Ex Patriot to players: Savor Thanksgiving

SAUGUS – Just in case any seniors from either Saugus or Peabody weren’t aware that a huge era in their lives will end Thanksgiving Day when they play their final high school football game, the message was reinforced Wednesday night at the annual Lions Club gathering at Prince Restaurant.In what has become a yearly tradition, seniors from the Tanners and Sachems, along with their coaches, gathered for a dinner put on by the Saugus Lions Club. The Peabody YMCA also helps finance the dinner.From guest speaker Pete Brock, a former Patriots lineman who played in Super Bowl XX against the Chicago Bears, to both coaches, Mike Broderick (Saugus) and Mark Bettencourt (Peabody), seniors heard the message that they should savor next Thursday as they’ll never have that experience again, regardless of what they do from hereon out.”You’re not going to be playing for Peabody … and you’re not going to be playing for Saugus,” said Brock, “whatever you choose to do.””There’s going to be a stadium full of people out there, and all of them are going to wish they were you … either because they remember playing in this game, or because they didn’t play for whatever reason, and wish they did,” said Broderick.”My senior year, this was a great game … one of the best games of the day,” Bettencourt said. “We were 9-0 and Saugus was 8-1, and the winner was going to go to the Super Bowl. Newspapers all over the place were touting this game as one of the best. The rivalry was never bigger than it was that year.”Peabody won that game, and went on to win the Division 1 Super Bowl.”Savor every moment,” Bettencourt said.Brock was a star at Jesuit High in Beaverton, Ore., whose college choice came down to Notre Dame and Colorado. He chose the Buffalos over the Fighting Irish, and said that when he informed then-Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian of his decision, Parseghian told him that wherever he went, he’d have a great career, “which I thought was a nice thing to say, since I’d chosen the other school.”Four years later, Notre Dame won a national championship and Parseghian’s staff coached the Chicago Tribune college all-star game, and Brock played in the game.”He saw me, and said to me, ‘I told you you’d have a great career and you did,'” Brock said. “He remembered me.”Brock told the players that they were special, because they’d made sacrifices to achieve their goals, and that they did it together. He also said that nothing close to what the Miami Dolphins have experienced with the Richie Incognito imbroglio in Miami would have happened “in any locker room I’ve ever been a part of. These are your teammates.”That shows a lack of leadership,” he said. “About the worst thing that happened to us is that as rookies, we couldn’t eat our meals in the cafeteria the first day of training camp until we stood up on a chair and sang our college’s fight song. But stuff like that is part of the team-building experience.”Brock concluded his remarks by saying “whatever you do, take what made you a success on the football field and use it to make yourself a success at whatever you do in life.”The Lions also awarded Saugus’ Brendan Rolli their version of the Heisman Trophy, which goes to a worthy senior on the Sachems. Rolli is a defensive lineman.