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Former wide receiver Julian Edelman enjoyed a great deal of success in his 11-year NFL career, all as a member of the New England Patriots. However, in 2017, the former seventh-round wide receiver out of Kent State missed the entire year due to a torn ACL in the right knee. Edelman experienced the injury while running with the football following a catch against the Detroit Lions in a preseason game.
Fast forward to now, Edelman is an analyst on the show Inside the NFL. Yet, it could have been different if Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady had had his way.
The wide receiver was a guest on the Manningcast broadcast of Monday Night Football as the defending Super Bowl champions took care of the New York Giants 30-10 at home. During his chat with the Manning brothers, Edelman mentioned how Brady tried to recruit him to put the band back together (Gronk was already on-board).
“He hit me up the first day he signed there," Eddelman said on Manningcast. "He was like, ‘You want to come down?’ And I was like, ‘Uh, absolutely not.'”
Edelman declined the offer and retired to become an analyst. Now one can only imagine a wide receiver core of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown and Julian Edelman with Gronk at tight end. It would have been like seeing Madden in real life.
Edelman's sparkling numbers
In 137 games (85 starts) in the regular season, Edelman had 620 receptions, 36 TDs, and 6,822 receiving yards. His postseason stats, on the other hand, are what most people will remember him for, especially Patriots fans. Edelman had 118 receptions and 1,442 receiving yards in his postseason career. The three-time Super Bowl-winning wide receiver is second all-time in both stats to Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, who is in pretty good company.
Tom Brady was quite familiar with Edelman’s standout performance in the postseason as they were teammates in New England for all three of the wide receiver's Super Bowl rings. For Brady, it was three of his seven rings, winning number seven on the Buccaneers home field at Raymond James Stadium. Edelman could have had four rings if he had accepted Brady’s invitation to join him in Tampa Bay last year.
