"The first time Julian Edelman appeared on the radar was during the 2009
preseason opener
N'Keal Harry New England Patriots Jersey , four months after the New England Patriots selected him 232nd overall in the draft. Serving as the team’s punt
returner with Wes Welker out, he returned a kick 75 yards to the end zone on
just his fourth-ever touch in an NFL game. Ten years later, Edelman is adding
two more years to his contract to potentially finish his career in New
England.This contract extension is just the latest chapter in Edelman’s Patriots
tenure — one that will earn him a spot in the team’s and potentially even pro
football’s Hall of Fame one day. Back in 2009, of course, none of that was even
remotely expected of the former college quarterback who converted to wide
receiver and special teams player upon entering the NFL. The signs were there,
in retrospect, but Edelman was buried on the depth chart due to his mix of raw
talent and inexperience.Then came the postseason. With Welker suffering a torn
ACL one week before the Patriots’ playoff opener against the Baltimore Ravens,
Edelman was elevated into a bigger role — and he delivered as one of the few
players during New England’s wild card loss. His performance was a sign of
things to come: whenever the spotlight was brightest, Edelman appeared to play
his best football to establish a reputation as one of the NFL’s clutch
performers.In 2013, he took his game and his role within the Patriots’ offense
to a new level. While Welker left for the Denver Broncos and Danny Amendola was
brought in to replace him, Edelman — playing on a one-year deal he signed a
month into free agency — showed that he also should not be forgotten about: the
Kent State product became New England’s number one wide receiver, and Tom
Brady’s go-to guy, en route to the best season of his career up to that
point.And yet, the best was still ahead of him.Entering the 2014 season with a
new four-year, $17 million contract in hand, Edelman played a key role in
helping the Patriots reach and subsequently win their first Super Bowl in a
decade. Not only did he lead the team in receptions during the regular season
for the second time, he again stood out in the playoffs — making some of the
biggest plays in franchise history along the way: from his double-pass touchdown
to Amendola in the divisional round to an enormous third down conversion and the
game-winner in Super Bowl 49.Edelman’s collection of legendary moments does not
stop there
Red N'Keal Harry Jersey , though. Two years after winning his first Super Bowl with the Patriots, he and the franchise added another championship to their
respective trophy cases — and again it was the team’s most consistent wide
receiver that delivered a signature moment: in the fourth quarter of New
England’s Super Bowl comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons, Edelman
caught a deflected pass attempt a mere inches from the ground.“I put at the top
of my paper every day, ‘Never comfortable,’” said Edelman in the summer
following Super Bowl 51 — and after signing a two-year, $11 million contract
extension with New England. “It’s just how I feel always. There’s a lot of crazy
stuff in this league and you got to go out and you got to earn your role every
year. [...] I don’t like that — to feel comfortable. That’s how complacency
kicks in.”The two years after Edelman’s second Super Bowl win were marked by
some of the highest and lowest moments of his career. In August 2017, the
veteran receiver tore his ACL during a preseason game and was forced to sit out
the entire year. Later, he was suspended for a quarter of the 2018 season for
violating the league’s policy against performance-enhancing substances. When he
returned from his fourteen-month absence in October of last year, however,
Edelman was his typical reliable self.The former seventh-round draft pick helped
the Patriots’ passing game find its rhythm after it had started the season
inconsistently, and capped the campaign with what might just be his magnum opus:
Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards in Super Bowl 53 against the Los Angeles
Rams, and was named the game’s most valuable player. It was just the latest
example of his postseason excellence — and his value to the organization and its
quarterback.Today’s contract extension, coming one day before his 33rd birthday,
is therefore the logical continuation of Edelman’s story: his new two-year deal
might just be enough to keep him in New England for the remainder of his
illustrious career. And frankly, there shouldn’t be any other way to wrap up his
— still unfinished — story. After all, few players have embodied the so-called
‘Patriot Way’ quite like Edelman.He was a standout on special teams and even a
part-time defensive back before breaking out as a wide receiver. He worked his
way from a draft-day afterthought to a Super Bowl MVP. He earned it all through
hard work and following one of head coach Bill Belichick’s most notable mantras:
‘do your job.’ Edelman is doing it in exemplary fashion ever since 2009, which
enabled him to keep adding to his story year after year.“I’m happy to be a
Patriot
2019 N'Keal Harry Jersey ,” said Edelman after signing his two-year extension in 2017 when asked about potentially ending his career in New England — and it is not
hard to imagine him answering the question any differently this time around.
“I’m a Pat, but I’m just worried about this year. As lame as it sounds and as
much as you guys hear it, it’s really a mentality where you just keep it
day-to-day. When you can do that, that’s usually when you stay focused and you
improve the most. That’s how I’m going to try to take this.”This approach has
helped Edelman turn into one of the most prolific performers the wide receiver
position has ever seen — a prototypical Patriot, now bound to the team through
2021. As with everything this time of year, take this with a Vince-Wilfork-size
grain of salt"Q: How do you get everyone to hate the New England Patriots and
the Boston sports scene in general even more than they already do?A: Add more
Duke playersOk, that’s probably more of a sure shot for more Haterade in the NBA
than in the game we play over here where even joining the Patriots falls
somewhere between “SELLOUT!” and “Of course (insert whoever’s name here) did!”,
but the point still stands. With this year’s class of quarterbacks not
particularly, let’s say, ‘sparking joy’ unless you’re the Arizona Cardinals or
John Elway, the odds of some quarterbacks dropping out of the top half of the
first round seem like they’re getting better all the time. Which of course means
that the odds of everyone around here getting furious if Bill turns in a draft
card for any of them instead of going ALL IN are basically 1,000%. That just
might be a good week to turn the radio off.(Note: it’s always a good week to
turn the radio off.)It’s not any of the QB prospects’ fault, it’s just the way
it is if/when you get tabbed to replace the guy who’s been executing Fatality
combos on the record books for the past 10 years. Tough sledding.Anyway, that
brings us to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora in his NFL Insider Notes (ooooh, an
Insider that’s free!) and this little bit about New England *allegedly* liking
Daniel Jones the more they think about it:Most of you guys probably watch more
college football than I do, so someone will have to fill me in as to whether a
“David Cutcliffe pedigree” has been a compliment since like, 2004 or not. Maybe
it’s coming back in like Adidas Superstars? You tell me.On the other
hand
N'Keal Harry NFL Draft , back to Daniel Jones and JLC’s rumblings, La Canfora’s also having a Red-Sox-esque streak of luck lately, and by luck I mean, well, you’ve
seen the Red Sox this year.Which, let’s be fair here - there’s a lot of teams
that are .500 against Jeff Fisher, so no shame in that, right?(Get it, because
Jeff Fisher has a .500 lifetime win-loss record? Get it? Get it??)On the other
other hand, the Patriots did use one of their official visits to bring Daniel
Jones in last week, so, there’s that, although for a nice shot/chaser you can
take that with a grain of “visits almost never turn into actual Patriots draft
picks”.Only six more sleeps till the draft, right?
