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Vrabel in community
DORCHESTER – Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel hosted a volunteer recognition ceremony this morning at Bank of America’s newly renovated Gallivan Banking Center in Dorchester.
The event was highlighted by a Vrabel speech in which he recognized the “Worker Bees”, a community service club of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from the Broad Meadow School in Quincy. The “Worker Bees” volunteer with the Cradles to Crayons program, which has served more than 40,000 children in need.
Bank of America presented a $65,000 grant to Cradles to Crayons at the event, with Vrabel addressing the children present in the lobby of the bank.
“I think that kids don’t hear enough that they’re doing a good job,” Vrabel said before his speech. “I’m as hard on my son as anybody and probably too much he hears that he’s not doing this, or not doing that. These kids are doing a great job in the community and they’re being leaders. A leader isn’t a pro football player or a basketball player; you can be a leader by doing something that no one else is doing.
“When you talk about a middle school in Quincy, I’m sure there are a lot of kids [enrolled]. To get 35 kids, those kids are standing out. I’m going to tell them that they’re doing something special.”
From a football perspective, Vrabel was asked about the Patriots’ recent free-agent moves, and how the money spent on players from other teams might affect those already in the locker room.
“I would say it’s certainly interesting that for so long guys took below-market deals to be with the Patriots, because that was the way they had to do it, and then they made a turn to go out in free agency,” Vrabel said. “If it makes the team better, that’s great. I’m not trying to speak for everybody, but I think it was a little shocking. But I’m glad that it happened.”
Asked if he was concerned about how the signings might play out with players in the locker room, Vrabel said: “I don’t think we’re real concerned. I think Tedy Bruschi said it best, in Bruschi fashion -– ‘put your money somewhere and come to work like everybody else.’ It can’t be put any better than that. I called Tedy right after I saw that and I said ‘I wouldn’t expect anybody else to say that but you’, and it has a lot of truth to it. Just come to work like everybody else does, and we’ll get to work, and be ready to move forward.”
