Patriots veteran linebacker Tedy Bruschi shares a laugh with his teammates during yesterday’s practice session.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

FOXBORO — Tedy Bruschi never dreamed of being a Pro Bowl linebacker when he came out of the University of Arizona in 1996.

He didn’t even play linebacker for the Wildcats. He was a defensive tackle. But with a lot of hard work, Bruschi, a third-round choice by the Patriots (86th overall), became one of the top linebackers in the NFL , and one of the most well-known Patriots linebackers in team history.

“Yeah, my goal back then was to learn to play linebacker,” Bruschi said. “Coming out of college and being a defensive lineman, never taking a hook-drop in my life, coach [Al] Groh asked me to drop to the hook and I asked him where that was. I knew I had a long way to go, so I think that was my first and foremost step coming into the league, and then the other goal I had was [to] keep myself on the team as best [as] I could with what I could do, being a third-down pass rusher and playing special teams.

“Then, as I continued to learn to play that linebacker position and I realized that I could do that, I said, OK, let’s take it to the next level, and the next level, and now I’m to the level where I know I can play. Now I just want to keep winning and winning.”

Bruschi finished the regular season as the Patriots’ leader in tackles for the second consecutive season.

After amassing 124 tackles last season (67 solo), Bruschi has been credited by the Patriots’ coaching staff with 99 tackles (69 solo) this year. Since the beginning of the 2003 season, no Patriot has recorded more tackles than Bruschi, who has more than 560 during that span (including the playoffs).

He has averaged more than 111 tackles per season over the last five seasons.

New England head coach Bill Belichick has watched Bruschi grow from a rookie to a Pro Bowl selection (2005) during his career.

“He’s been great for this organization,” Belichick said. “I was here the first year that Tedy was here in ’96 when we drafted him, and it’s a great story. [He] played defensive line in college, [was] converted as a linebacker, played on special teams and then rushed the passer a little bit early in his career and then converted to being an inside linebacker. He’s gotten a lot of recognition for what he’s done at that position.

“It’s a difficult transition, probably one of the hardest to make, but he’s made it, made it well, and he’s been exemplary for us in every phase of the game — on the field, defensively, on special teams. Off the field, he’s been elected a captain pretty much every year since I’ve been here. He’s one of the most respected players on this team [and] in the league, and he’s been one of the best players in this organization.

“[We’ve] won a lot of games with him out there on the field. He’s done a lot of different things for us. He has great versatility and leadership and determination. A lot of guys didn’t think he had the skills to play in this league. He’s certainly proved all of them wrong.”

roblee@projo.com