Julian Edelman Reveals Tom Brady Preferred a Jay-Z Song as His Theme Every Time He Ran Out of the Tunnel

The New England Patriots used to own an entire era of football when they had Tom Brady and Julian Edelman together. But beyond the trophies and playoff wins, the iconic QB-WR duo also knew how to have a little fun along the way.

As Edelman recently revealed, he and Brady even had personalized theme songs that would blast through the stadium speakers whenever they made big plays. For Edelman, he picked a specific moment from a high-energy anthem.

It’s the “I can’t stop!” drop from Who Gon Stop Me, the electrifying Kanye West and Jay-Z collab. When that “I can’t stop!” line hits, it’s a sonic explosion, and it sure matches Edelman’s third-down grit.

“Anytime I would catch a third down, I had a song that they would play,” Edelman detailed. “I used to like, ‘I can’t stop!’… They came up to me and asked me what I wanted for a theme song, and I wanted the Kanye [West], Jay-Z remake of ‘I can’t stop.’”

The remake “I can’t stop” was, in fact, produced and attributed to Theophilus London, featuring just Kanye West. It’s a dubstep-type of song that can get the crowd hyped, and it probably worked wonders for the New England crowd on every third-down conversion. Edelman also said they’d play the song for touchdowns and big plays. 

So, now that we know Edelman’s theme song, what was Brady’s?

“Tom had ‘Public Service Announcement,’” Edelman recalled.

“So anytime we’d be on pregame, there’d be the regular music from the stadium. And then, when Tom would get ready, it would just stop. It would be ‘Public Service Announcement’ by Jay-Z, and then he would run out. That’s when he’d go do his little thing, and that’s when you knew it was getting time… Game time, Tom’s out.”

PSA by Jay-Z is one of the best pregame hype songs in sports history. It’s no wonder Brady used the track to get himself and the crowd amped before kickoff. And it seemed to work. Edelman certainly looked energized while recounting what the vibe was like at Gillette Stadium before games.

At the end of the day, everyone could use a theme song to soundtrack their life. Some of us may even act like we have one. But pro athletes actually get to live that dream, blasting their theme music whenever they make a big play. It’s something most former athletes wish they’d had during their careers.

What would your walk-out song be if you made it to the league? Something hype like Edelman and Brady’s, or something totally different?