"Football is not fun" - Julian Edelman admits his last season in the NFL made him dislike the game

Julian Edelman fell out of love with the sport of football due to his final season in the NFL back in 2020. It's something he admitted during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.

After seven straight seasons of catching the ball at a 60%+ rate, the Patriots receiver struggled mightily in his final season. Injuries and inconsistency under center knocked Edelman down to a sub-54% completion rate during his last pro season.

Edelman told Rich Eisen that he missed the sights and smells of football in the dog days of summer. He went on to say he doesn't miss the feeling of being bruised and injured nonstop:

"I miss waking up in August. Mm hmm. Going to the field, smelling the fresh cut grass in the sprinklers. Just finished seeing our equipment, guys. Setting all the stuff out of the locker room, the fellows and the competition."

"And, you know, now, being in my second year out, I can actually miss it because last year it was still ingrained in my head. Those last years, that last year, was rough. You know, football is not fun when you're bruised, you feel like crap."

Julian Edelman says 'never say never' regarding NFL return

Julian Edelman kept the door open for an NFL return following his absence during the 2021 season. The slot receiver told Rich Eisen to 'never say never' regarding his eventual hypothetical comeback:

“I’ll tell you right now, if I had three weeks, three maybe four weeks — beginning of the season, absolutely not. But if there’s a team vying for a playoff run, guy goes down. Could I get ready? I probably could. … You can never say never."

Perhaps what Edelman needs is an escape from Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization. When he retired, he revealed that Tom Brady had asked him about joining him in Tampa -- and that his answer was a resounding 'no':

"(Tom) hit me up the first day he signed there, like, 'You wanna come down? I was like, 'Absolutely not.'"

Edelman did reveal to Peyton and Eli Manning on the 'Manningcast' that he almost left New England in 2013. This was after speaking with then-Giants head coach Tom Coughlin:

"It was pretty close. I went and visited down there in Jersey and met with (Tom) Coughlin and had nothing but respect for the organization ... but I looked at my choices of going back to the Pats ... (and) Peyton, thank you for taking (Wes) Welker off our hands ... and the rest is history. You guys are saying, 'Once a Giant, always a Giant.' Well, 'Almost a Giant, always a Patriot.'"

Julian Edelman is starting a new podcast with comedian Sam Morril called 'Games with Names.' He'll be plenty busy if he doesn't suit up for an NFL team anytime soon.

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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Rich Eisen Show and H/T Sportskeeda