Wilfork Uses Draft For Good Cause

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — - Bill Belichick celebrated his 56th birthday Wednesday engaging in the least favorite part of his job. He met the press.

Looking relaxed and in a good mood, the normally tight-lipped Patriots coach was even willing to answer questions about the upcoming draft, dishing out his usual dose of vanilla insight as a large birthday cake sat on a table in the back of the room.

"That's what I came for," joked Vince Wilfork, the Patriots' behemoth nose tackle.

The actual reason Wilfork was at Gillette Stadium was to discuss his annual draft day party to raise money and awareness for diabetes, an illness that claimed his father's life when Wilfork played in college at Miami.

The event is April 26 at Pinz Entertainment in Milford, Mass. There will be live and silent auctions for Patriots items (for tickets and information, go to pinzbowl.com).

This is the fifth year that Wilfork and his wife, Bianca, have hosted the fundraiser to support the Diabetes Research Institute. More than $150,000 has been raised.

"It's getting bigger and bigger. Every year it's better and better," said Wilfork, the Patriots' first-round pick in 2004. "I think last year we raised close to $50,000. I think we're almost close to that right now and the draft day isn't here yet.."

And every year Wilfork hears stories from different people who have been affected by diabetes. He can relate after watching what the disease did to his father.

"I saw my father suffer for 12 years," Wilfork said. "Every year, it went from losing eyesight to hearing to limbs to toes, to every month losing something. It was basically just seeing my father die slowly. That's what it came to. I was 9 or 10 years old and had to carry my father to the bathroom because he was so weak he couldn't walk."

Wilfork (6 feet 2, 325 pounds) said he is restricting what he eats for the second straight offseason. He credits his wife with helping him lead a healthier lifestyle.

"This year I started early on my diet," Wilfork said. "Normally I wait further down the line to start it." Wilfork said he has lost 10 pounds this offseason.

He would like to shed his reputation as a dirty player after being fined by the NFL four times in 2007, including one that cost Wilfork $15,000 for sticking a finger in the facemask of the Giants' Brandon Jacobs in the final game of the regular season.

Wilfork described himself as "a madman" on the field but insisted anyone who knows him would vouch that he doesn't use dirty tactics. "Hopefully this year," Wilfork said, knocking on the lectern, "no more fines.

(courant.com)