Julian Edelman is one of the greatest New England Patriots ever

After starting out as a seventh-round draft pick, Julian Edelman has risen to the heights of being one of the greatest New England Patriots players ever.

The New England Patriots have had the luxury of Tom Brady and his services for the better part of 20 years now. In his two decades with the Pats, Brady has thrown to many different receivers… including having now thrown touchdown passes to 70+ different players.

With that being said, there is only one player who has been consistent and reliable enough to catch a majority of Brady’s passes throughout his career, and it’s none other than a Super Bowl MVP and someone who Brady looks at as his “little brother,” Julian Edelman.

It’s worth mentioning Edelman carved a sizable role out for himself in a Patriots franchise that is often very difficult to stick with; many players struggle each year to even make the team. In Edelman’s 10-year career in the NFL, he has accumulated 596 receptions, 6,481 yards, and 36 touchdowns.

On top of being a creature of habit, Julian Edelman was raised with an extremely high work ethic, both on and off the field. Coming from a blue-collar family, Francis (Julian’s father) expected his son to be the hardest worker in whatever he took up in life.

We’ve heard Tom Brady express how he needs to develop trust with his receivers in order for the offense to be successful, and no other player has done a better job of earning trust than Julian Edelman.

Here’s Edelman speaking on this directly, per Boston.com’s Nicole Yang:

"“You have to go out and earn [trust] every day in practice. You’re still continuing to try and gain trust. Trust isn’t something you just get and it stays. You have to continually earn it. It took me a while to get a chemistry with [Brady], but you go out every day and you try to work that and try to keep it.”"

To speak to the trust shared between the dynamic duo, Edelman has risen to the heights of being second on the all-time playoffs receiving list, only behind Jerry Rice. Edelman has 115 receptions, 1,412 yards, and five touchdowns in 18 postseason games.

He is truly a special player who has done it all for the Patriots. Starting his career as a transitioned wide receiver and unique return specialist, he has evolved into becoming one of the top receivers in the league; a remarkable feat, to say the least.

He has also spent some time on defense even, playing defensive back from time to time in years past. We also can’t forget to mention the amazing catch he made in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons.

Tom Brady has said multiple times throughout the season that Julian Edelman is by far one of the greatest players in the history of the New England Patriots organization. That’s such a huge compliment when you consider some of the other great receivers who have played for the Pats (Deion Branch, Wes Walker, Randy Moss, Troy Brown, etc).

What makes the story of Julian Edelman so intriguing is that he was drafted by the Patriots in the seventh-round back in ‘09. It’s impressive Edelman has been able to maintain the worthiness to be able to keep a spot on the Patriots roster.

Earning the trust of Brady is one challenge, but earning the trust of Bill Belichick is a different story. Belichick is very particular about who is on his team, as he believes every player needs to have an established role for the team to be successful.

Here’s the head coach of the Patriots speaking about Edelman’s role in the Patriots organization, per USA Today’s Sean McGuire:

"“I think there are things that come up from game to game, that if you want to do something with an experienced player that can handle a particular situation you’re trying to attack in that game, he’s a good guy to do it with. I mean we’ve been able to do different things with him over the course of his career, and certainly over the last few years.”"

There’s no doubt that Julian Edelman has been the go-to guy in New England for a long time now. This 2019 Patriots team is going to need to rely on him once again as they march into the playoffs, especially if they want to have any hopes of defending their title.