At just 5’10” and under 200 pounds coming out of Kent State in 2009, Julian Edelman was far from a prototypical quarterback. That’s why he essentially entered the draft as a wide receiver. However, even at that position, Edelman didn’t have the build that scouts were typically looking for. Still, he pushed through in his early years, contributing on offense when he could while becoming indispensable on special teams.
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Edelman was able to build his strength, speed, and agility during his first few years in the league. Much of that was thanks to his intense work ethic in the weight room. He pushed himself so hard that even Tom Brady, of TB12 fame, had to step in with some advice on where to ease up.
Edelman bought into nearly everything Brady told him while they were teammates with the New England Patriots. However, while he did try Brady’s TB12 workout and diet program while in Foxborough, he didn’t jump in with both feet. Instead, he did squats. And Brady really didn’t like squats.
“So I would do a lot of the TB12 stuff, but I wouldn’t go b*lls deep. You know, like, I’m not just doing this and this only, because I had a different opinion… And you know, nothing (is effective) like a squat,” said Edelman on the Games with Names podcast last year.
“A squat is what ultimately works for you the best. And he would get so mad at me because it does leave you vulnerable to getting hurt in the weight room. But you know, you’ve got to do business as business is being done. I needed that squat,” he continued.
Squats are the best way to build muscle in your legs, but they’re also the quickest way to a weight room or overall knee injury. They place a lot of stress on that crucial joint. But Edelman argued that, because he was an “explosive athlete,” playing receiver, he needed to do some things that a QB simply doing seven-step drops every play wouldn’t have to bother with.
“I needed to have muscle mass on me because I’m an explosive athlete. … I’m not taking seven, eight-step drops and then delivering a football. Very hard, can’t do it, and they get murdered in the pocket. I understand, but when you’re exploding in and out of cuts, you got to work those kinds of things,” he explained.
While Edelman was definitely correct in saying that the QB and WR positions require different workout strategies, he might have benefited from taking a few more pages out of the TB12 method book. In the end, Edelman’s 12-year career was heavily impacted and ultimately cut short by injuries, particularly those to his knees.
“Just like most guys that have knee problems, I’m just bone on bone. And also, my medial side is like just worn out because I tore a PCL years ago, and you don’t repair those,” Edelman once detailed what forced him into retirement on the Pat McAfee Show.
“So, then you just get this lag in your [tibula-fibula] and then I’m bow legged. … And then last year I popped the root of my cartilage, so the whole medial side is just kind of like ‘Alright we run, alright my knee blows up, alright let’s go in the pool?’ I hated that. I don’t like that,” he added.
Edelman dealt with many ailments, most notably chronic knee issues, over the final few years of his career. He missed seven games with a broken foot in 2015. He missed the entire 2017 campaign with a torn ACL. The Bay Area native was relatively healthy in 2018 (when he won Super Bowl 53 MVP) and 2019, but the injuries resurfaced in 2020.
He had surgeries on both his shoulder and knee during the 2020 offseason. Then, in October, he suffered another injury that required another knee procedure. Edelman was shut down for good shortly after and retired following the season.
We’ll never know, but perhaps following the TB12 method more closely could’ve added a season or two to Edelman’s career.
