Julian Edelman was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame earlier this week — a well-deserved honor, as he spent his entire 11-year career with the club. During that time, he recorded 620 catches for 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns. Tom Brady was in attendance at the event and couldn’t have been happier to see his close friend welcomed into the HOF.
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In fact, Brady was so happy with this development that he decided to center his weekly newsletter around Edelman. He hyped his former teammate up by noting his lesser-known abilities and achievements from his high school and college days.
“But there’s a lot about Julian that people don’t know and don’t remember,” Brady wrote before adding,
“They don’t remember that he was drafted in the middle of the seventh round. They don’t remember that he was a scrambling quarterback all through high school and for three years at Kent State…and he was great at it. His senior year, he broke the school’s single-season yardage record.”
It’s one of the more fun facts about Edelman, and Brady deserves credit for bringing it up. Julian was originally a quarterback in college at Kent State. He started for three years, and in his senior season, logged 3,190 total yards to break the school’s single-season yardage record.
However, once he got to the NFL, it was clear that Edelman’s quarterbacking days were over. He was drafted in the seventh round with the 232nd pick. In case you were wondering, there were 256 picks in the draft that year. Along with the low draft capital, Brady was already on the roster. So, the Pats viewed Edelman as an athlete without a position.
But at 5-foot-10, 198 lbs., Edelman had to prove he deserved a roster spot. And he did this by going all out with 100% effort in every drill at practice. It’s what he became known for: work ethic.
Furthermore, Brady argued in his newsletter that Edelman’s physical limitations were actually a hidden blessing — just like Brady’s own lack of athleticism had been for him.
“I think the chip on the shoulder it gave us has been far more valuable than if we were blessed with all of the great physical attributes,” Brady expressed. “Because it forced us to develop those intangible mental and emotional traits that are the difference between good players and great players, and between great players and champions.”
It’s quite an interesting argument that Brady puts forth. We all gawk in awe at the best athletes in the NFL, like Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. But, at least so far, it’s quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts — those with both talent and the intangible mental traits — who have found championship success.
As the saying goes, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Of course, Brady couldn’t resist poking some fun at Edelman in the newsletter as well. In the end, he admitted that he did wish Edelman had a better ability to read the playbook. But thanks to the intangibles and traits he developed through those so-called hidden blessings, things usually worked out.
“Do I wish Julian possessed greater natural ability to read the playbook and remember his assignments? Sure. But his energy, effort, and grit produced some hilarious moments, some historic wins, and even more amazing memories,” Brady concluded.
While it’s a unique take from Brady about his and Edelman’s hidden blessings, it’s hard to argue with the results or the logic. It’s easier to coast on talent when a player is naturally gifted athletically. But when they aren’t, it forces them to work even harder than those with natural ability. We see this all the time at the high school level.
As Brady says, oftentimes the best athletes in a high school’s history are people you’ve never heard of. That’s because those athletes usually assume their early success and natural ability will carry them to higher levels — but most of the time, it doesn’t. They realize too late that they’re behind the 8-ball because other players were putting in extra work when they weren’t.
This is exactly the case with Brady and Edelman. Both were overlooked and not viewed as spectacular athletes. But they each worked hard and developed other intangible skills that were second-to-none. It eventually led them to 3 Super Bowl wins together.
