A son of a three-time Super Bowl champion, Tommy Andruzzi had his athletic career layed out for him, at least in theory. Living in the shadows of Gillette Stadium with the last name Andruzzi, Tommy would have looked a natural under a helmet and shoulder pads.
But Tommy — now a junior long stick midfielder — had a different plan, one that has brought him to Hamden to blaze his own trail on the men’s lacrosse team.
“I think with the experience at the NFL and knowing that it’s not always easy,” head coach Mason Poli said. “I think that’s where Tommy gets his work ethic from, and that’s where you really gain your confidence: putting in the work. It’s not thinking you can do it. It’s proving and showing you can do it. So I think he gains a lot of that from his father.”
Joe Andruzzi was a standout offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Coming out of Southern Connecticut State as an undrafted free agent in 1997, Joe carved out nine years in the NFL, three of them having him hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy as a member of the Patriots.
“But (I) was able to scrounge out 10 years in the NFL,” Joe said. “I was undrafted in ‘97 and played for three teams, won three Super Bowls as a player, (and) played in four.”
With the last name Andruzzi and living in Massachusetts, Tommy often heard, ‘oh shoot, you’re Joe Andruzzi like, that’s so cool.’ While that kind of attention may have discouraged some, it deepened Tommy’s appreciation for his dad.
“Since I never got to see him play, I think it helped show me, just like, how much he really did,” Tommy said. “Now that I’m older and I know the NFL and everything, you really do see how hard he worked and how much he had to do to get to that point. It’s super cool just to see how humble he is.”
Unlike many professional athlete parents who push their kids to pursue the same sport, Joe was the polar opposite.
“I (didn’t) want to push any of my kids into sports; it doesn’t usually work out for the kids,” Joe said. “Thomas, actually, when his brother started playing, I think it was like fifth grade, he found a love for lacrosse and wanted to play, but there was no age group for him. So I got it okayed for him to play in first grade with the U11 team.”
Tommy did play football like his father lining up as a running back, fullback and linebacker from eighth grade till his sophomore year of high school. Once lacrosse recruiting started to take shape in his junior year, he shifted his focus there.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic affected his junior year, not allowing him to play the whole season, prompting him to take a gap year at Loomis Chaffee in Connecticut.
As a long stick midfielder — a role not all college programs prioritize — Tommy found a fit with Poli, who understands the position firshand, being a long stick midfielder himself.
“One of my former teammates and his father were Tommy’s high school coaches,” Poli said. “I was an LSM. My teammate was an LSM Tommy plays in that similar fashion and style. So to know where he’s coming from and how he was coached and how I’m trying to play the game, it’s been a smooth transition.”
LSMs don’t come around as often, with two of the Bobcats’ eight MAAC opponents — Marist and Manhattan — not rostering a true LSM. But when Tommy stepped foot on campus as one, he was able to find a spot in the Bobcats’ lineup, playing in 30 out of a possible 40 games in his three years, as of publication.
With Tommy’s knowledge of football — both playing and watching his favorite football team, the Patriots — has greatly improved his play on the field, especially staying in front of his opponents and not letting them get around him like his father did for nine years in the NFL.
“You can see some of that, that O-line footwork, some of those drop steps we work on, and his ability to really, like, get hands on,” Poli said. “I compare defense at times to O-line play. At times we need to be pass blockers, or we need to punch and we need to separate, and other times we’re run blockers.”
In his three years, he has only scored once against Manhattan on March 26, with his dad and grandparents in the stands.
“My parents live in Jersey, and they drove up, it’s like an hour away from them,” Joe said. “They drove up from their home and watched the game, and they were cheering and hollering, just because Quinnipiac scored a goal and they had no idea it was Thomas, until, you know, I told them, and they went crazy. ‘Oh Thomas. Oh my gosh.’”
Forged by his father’s grit and determination but guided by his own passion, Tommy Andruzzi is making his own legacy one hit, one ground ball, one shot and one step at a time.
