Tedy Bruschi knows a thing or two about great linebackers, considering he was one. Bruschi, who played 13 seasons with the New England Patriots, offered some encouraging words about one of his successors, Jerod Mayo.

Mayo, who was played three seasons with the Patriots, has 174 tackles and three forced fumbles in 45 games in New England. Bruschi said that, in time, Mayo could be the game's best linebacker.

"He's done things there in his short career with the Patriots that I wasn't able to do until my eighth or ninth year or something like that. That's how far along he is. That's how good he is," Bruschi said of the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Mayo. "I never had the ability that he has - how fast he is, how big he is and strong. The sky is the limit for him. I truly see him being the best linebacker in the game within two years. I think that's how good he is." (via WEEI)

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