From Ray Lewis to Navorro Bowman, there was certainly no shortage of physical specimens in the NFL during the midst of Julian Edelman’s career. However, according to the former New England Patriot himself, it was the MVP-winning quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, Cam Newton, who proved to be the most “freakish” athlete that he had ever encountered.
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Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 245 pounds, Newton is one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks of the modern era. Only two quarterbacks have more career rushing yards than him, those being Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson.
Newton still holds the all-time record for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. While Josh Allen figures to break that record in the near future, Newton will continue to be regarded as the king of rushing TDs until further notice.
During Edelman’s most recent conversation with the Fox Sports analyst, Colin Cowherd, he explained that “[Cam Newton] is literally one of the most impressive specimen humans, just as far as how broad he is, how big he is. He’s lean. He’s like a freak human.”
The self-titled host of FS1’s The Herd couldn’t help but to agree while thinking back to Newton’s performance against LSU in 2010. While Newton would only complete 10 passes for a total of 86 yards, he managed to completely take over the game with his physicality.
His 28 rushing attempts yielded a whopping total of 217 yards as Auburn took home a 24-17 victory that day. “He was running over linebackers,” Cowherd exclaimed.
“Defensive ends? He’s stiff-arming them. He has a 37-inch waist, and he’s cut like a lumberjack. He’s not built like humans.”
Cam Newton and Julian Edelman’s joint workout
If it weren’t for Tom Brady, the former Panther may have been Edelman’s favorite quarterback to work with. In 2020, shortly after Newton signed with the Patriots, the two of them released footage of their private workout session to their respective Instagram pages.
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Ironically enough, one of the best individual games of Edelman’s career, from a personal statistics standpoint, came while he was working with Newton and not Tom Brady. During an interdivisional matchup against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 of the 2020 season, Edelman hauled in eight of his 11 targets for 179 yards.
Unfortunately, the two of them would only play together a total of five times, as Newton would eventually be released to make way for the team’s first-round draft pick, Mac Jones. In total, Edelman would produce 18 receptions and 280 receiving yards on 33 targets with Newton as his quarterback.
With Newton under center, Edelman was averaging 15.6 yards per reception, which is well above his career average of 11 YPR. Their success, although limited, marked the dying breath of the Patriots as a powerhouse team.
Nowadays, the two of them cover the game of football on their respective podcasts, both of which are primarily featured on YouTube. Given the rich chemistry and history together, it’s worth wondering whether fans can ever expect to see a crossover episode depicting the two legends reliving their glory days.
