Golf has become a go-to offseason sport for many NFL players. Stars like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Josh Allen often spend their downtime on the course and even compete in tournaments. However, Julian Edelman, who shared the field with Brady and Rob Gronkowski in New England, rarely got the chance to tee it up like most of his peers.
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In fact, Edelman waited almost five years after his last game in the league to take golf seriously, like his teammates have been doing.
During his recent golf outing with former wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. on the Ironed Out podcast, Julian was asked about his interest in the sport, and he revealed that he has only started taking golf seriously this year. “I just started up this really this year, like for real, for real,” he said.
This came as a big surprise to the Panthers legend. And when he asked why, Edelman’s response surprised him even more.
“You know, when you’re playing, when I was playing (in the NFL), I had to have a surgery every offseason. So you can’t really play,” Edelman added.
Smith Sr., even more curious, proceeded to ask, “Every offseason?”
“I had 14 surgeries. Knees, ankles, shoulders, feet. I never got to really play in the offseason,” Edelman responded before continuing,
“I mean, I played, but now that we have time and what you explained on my podcast, that just sense of almost therapeutic things that you get from golf, competing with yourself, having time to think.”
Injuries were certainly a major concern for the former Patriot throughout his career. He started his career in Foxborough in 2009, and during his rookie season, he fractured his forearm, causing him to miss two games and a bye week.
Fast forward 11 years to his last offseason of his career in 2020, Edelman underwent shoulder surgery, which involved a lengthy rehab. And even in his final year, Julian was placed on injured reserve after undergoing a precautionary procedure on his knee during the season.
The following year, Julian decided to hang up his cleats for good, knowing that injuries had hindered his abilities as a player, and that he couldn’t bear the physical pain of being a football player anymore.
That said, it’s now clear that for Julian, football was always the priority. He showed how committed he was to rehabbing and getting better for the next season every year, rather than playing golf with his work buddies.
