Julian Edelman started his football career as a quarterback and played that position in high school and at Kent State. During college, he became Kent State’s leading passer and rusher, but the NFL had other plans for him.
Undersized and not playing for a top university, Edelman got little attention as a prospect. He wasn’t invited to the 2009 NFL Combine, but the New England Patriots invited him for private workouts.
They chose to draft him in the seventh round that year, and his name was announced as a wide receiver. He later said that he knew his best shot at the pros might be at another position, and he prepared that way.
If Edelman had been marginally successful, he would have outperformed his draft position. However, he did far more than that. During his 12-year career, Edelman became one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets. But earning his trust wasn’t easy.
Julian Edelman Shares How He Knew He Earned the Trust of Tom Brady
Edelman immediately had an impact as a receiver and in the Patriots’ return game. Ultimately, he helped win three Super Bowls and was the MVP of Super Bowl 53.
Recently, on an episode of “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” the NFL analyst asked Edelman about working with Brady. He wanted to know when the wide receiver sensed that Brady trusted him, calling that “huge for Tom.”
“I would say probably the Week 1 Buffalo game in 2013, where Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] blew out his back. We signed [Danny] Amendola, he ripped out his abductor, and so [Aaron] Hernandez was gone by then, so there was no one else really to throw to, and so he kind of had to, and then we balled out. We won that game. That’s when I feel like the trust was really coming,” Edelman told Cowherd about the first time he really felt Brady trusted him.
Edelman said that trust doesn’t come easily to Brady. Everyone knows that he is the G.O.A.T. partly because of his dedication and insane work ethic. He reportedly followed a strict diet, in which he ate almost no carbs, to keep himself in peak condition. He watched films with a near-religious fervor and continually improved his craft.
He expected the same out of his receivers. Edelman said that being the best comes through preparation, repetition, and practice. If a receiver wanted Brady to trust him fully, he had to show he was doing the same work.
“Now I put in a whole lot of sweat equity with him years before that in the offseason, and there was a trust, but the trust didn’t come until he saw it in a real game,” explained Edelman. “It has to be seen in practice for you to even get an opportunity in the game. It wasn’t like you just got it; you had to continually earn it.
Edelman told Cowherd that learning from Brady was “very, very cool for me.” He said he was “blessed” to have that experience and be part of the Patriots.