Joe Andruzzi, Former NFL Guard, Spotted Helping Stricken Boston Marathon Runners
From the archive: published Apr 16, 2013, 13 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Joe Andruzzi, former guard with the New England Patriots, was spotted helping stricken Boston Marathon runners in the chaos that followed Monday’s bombing.
There was no shortage of heroic acts from people watching the race on Monday, and Andruzzi was just one of the heroes and heroines who lent a hand.
Andruzzi, a winner of the NFL’s Ed Block Courage Award and three Super Bowl rings with New England, was snapped by one photographer carrying a distressed victim of the bombing away in his arms.
Though the photograph wasn’t captioned, Twitter soon identified Andruzzi.
Sure enough, a look at Joe Andruzzi’s own Twitter account shows the former guard was waiting at the Boston Marathon finish line.
The 37-year-old was there to represent his cancer foundation, a regular supporter and sponsor of marathon runners.
His tweets even suggested he was close to the finish line, close to where the first blast occurred:
Great view from the Michelob Ultra seats here at @ forum_boston. Come by for our watch party just steps from the finish line! #BostonMarathon
— Joe Andruzzi Fndn (@joeandruzzifndn) April 15, 2013
All #TeamJAF runners have passed the 10K mark! Keep going strong! We’ll see you at the finish line! twitter.com/joeandruzzifnd… — Joe Andruzzi Fndn (@joeandruzzifndn) April 15, 2013
A few hours after the bombing had occurred, Andruzzi reassuringly tweeted:
Jen and I are safe. Thanks for all the tweets.
— Joe Andruzzi (@Andruzzi63) April 15, 2013
Deadspin notes Andruzzi is a brother to three New York City firefighters; perhaps his intervention was inevitable?