"He was always like an older brother" - Julian Edelman shares the special bond he shares with Tom Brady off-the-field
Julian Edelman and Tom Brady developed quite a partnership throughout their years playing in the NFL. Edelman, the diminutive receiver, was Brady's go-to guy in a pressure situation.
While Edelman's stats throughout his career do not look that impressive, it was in the postseason where he stepped it up a level. The on-field connection that he and Brady shared is extremely hard to replicate.
Edelman was a guest on the I Am Athlete podcast and was asked about his relationship with the 44-year-old. The receiver stated that in the beginning, he simply wanted to be around the quarterback and once he was, his relationship with him went from strength to strength.
“ I think there’s a lot of things, from the jump he was a guy, sixth-round draft pick, we all know the story, 199, he had to go the long road and I was kind of the same thing, seventh round guy, had to work my way onto the team. Had to make myself valuable, play special teams, he always respected my effort and he respected you know, I think my competitiveness and the fact that I would do anything."
@Edelman11 @TomBrady @IAMATHLETEpod Q: "Did you hear about Brady in highschool or something?"
Edelman: "Brady in highschool? when I was at the 8th grade he won his first Super Bowl!" https://t.co/fO7it2Sesi
Edelman continued:
“I moved out to LA just to be around him and he only hit me up like twice the first year I moved out here and I would drop everything, I would go. Then it became, we were going you know everyday and that’s how it was. And also we are both from The Bay, we grew up 12 miles from each other so there was always a comfort of breaking down old hometown shit.
Edelman finished:
“He was always kind of like an older brother and I kinda watched everything he did because I wanted to witness what it did. How is this guy so damn good? You know, I wanted to see what he was doing, I wanted to see how he prepared, how he rested, how he recovered, and I wanted to try and do it.”
Tom Brady and Julian Edelman were a super pair on the field
The duo won three Super Bowls together and were a force to be reckoned with in the postseason. Julian Edelman was the guy for Tom Brady in a crunch situation. Who could forget his now-famous catch against the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl that defied the laws of physics?
In total, Julian Edelman finished with 6,311 yards and 41 touchdowns in his 127 games with Brady.
The relationship that the pair built on the field was from hours and hours of work off the field and during preseason. What everyone saw on Sundays was the product of that.
The same goes for Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. TB12 had an incredible connection with the tight end and at times, as with Edelman, was unstoppable.
It was simply a joy to watch the pair do their thing on a football field. There have been rumors of Edelman coming out of retirement to play down in Tampa Bay, but that is unlikely to happen. Then again, one should never say never!
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