Pat Abbruzzi called Bob Brochu the “best high school quarterback I ever coached.”  Along with fellow Hall of Fame member Jerry Marino, Bob led Pat’s first Warren High championship football team, the 1964 Class C Champions.

In addition to his signal calling and passing skills, Bob was an outstanding defensive back, as reflected by the fact that he was named an All Class C defensive back in both his junior and senior years.  In fact, he received All Class C or Eastern Division honors in football (both offense and defense), basketball, and baseball during each of his last two years of high school.

In recognition of his accomplishments both on and off the field, Bob was named Warren High’s Outstanding Student Athlete of 1966, the school’s Journal-Bulletin Honor Roll nominee for that year, and a member of the 1966 People-to-People basketball tour of Iceland, Denmark, Luxembourg, and West Germany.

At the University of Rhode Island, where he played freshman football, Bob was honored in 1970 as the Senior Physical Education Major with the Highest Grade Point Average.

Prior to high school, he set the Midget Football League scoring record by tallying 86 points for the 1960 Champions, the Redskins.  And, in Little League Baseball, he was an All Star pitcher/shortstop for the 1959 and 1960 Champions, the Senators.

(Perhaps his greatest moment came in the Barrington game of his junior gridiron season.  He was assigned by Doc Abbruzzi to cover Mike Gabarra, on his way to becoming one of the best wide receivers in the history of the East Bay.  On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Mike caught a pass in the flat, eluded Bob, and raced in for a score.  But Bob shut Mike out the rest of the day, and his passing and running led Warren to a 13-6 upset of the Eagles.  --  Ironically Bob and Mike had been the Little League All Stars’ keystone combination in 1960.)

Pictures from Hall of Fame Archives