Edelman’s rise to Super Bowl MVP epitomizes Patriots’ unique approach
The first time New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick got a look at Julian Edelman, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with him. Rick Gosselin, a sportswriter formerly at the Dallas Morning News, had tipped Belichick off to go take a look at the 5-foot-10 Kent State quarterback, who almost certainly wouldn’t play that position in the NFL but might have value somewhere else.
“I knew Gosselin followed the draft closely,” Belichick said. “That kind of got us going on him a little bit.”
The Patriots sent one scout up to Kent State to take a look at him. When the reviews came back positive, they sent a second just to make sure. Ultimately, New England took him in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft, No. 232 overall, even though it wasn’t totally clear where his skills would translate. They played him at corner. They put him on special teams. Eventually they moved him to receiver, all new skills for someone who spent his whole life running an offense.
A decade later, it has turned into the quintessential Patriots story as Edelman was named the Most Valuable Player of their 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
“Julian epitomizes the mental toughness, physical toughness, determination and will and just extraordinary ability to perform under pressure,” Belichick said Monday after the victory. “We have so many guys who do that well in so many different ways, and he’s truly in the mold of one of the great versatile Patriots like Troy Brown, Mike Vrabel, guys like that who’ve done it through the years. I’m so personally happy for Julian, and it’s so rewarding for me to see the success he’s achieved and be recognized for last night.”
When people ask, “How do the Patriots keep doing it?” Well, this is how. The NFL is a never-ending conveyor belt of talent, and most teams just end up drafting different versions of the same player. New England, though, has had a unique ability to identify players whose skill sets don’t always fit into a traditional box.
Dynasties are built on stars like Tom Brady, sure, but they’re sustained by players like Edelman, whose value is both simple and fundamental: He gets open. And in a year where Brady didn’t put up the same big-play numbers as he did in 2017 when Edelman was out with a torn ACL, that proved to be valuable in the postseason.
In three playoff games, Edelman practically couldn’t be covered: 10 catches for 141 yards against the Rams, seven for 96 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs and nine for 151 yards against the Chargers.
“I remember as a rookie, it was like 11 at night and by the grace of God I was walking out at the same time as coach and I had probably said maybe three words to him before that at the time,” Edelman recalled. “I had seen him on the treadmill watching film late at night, and I said ‘Coach you sure like football, huh?’ And he said, ’It beats being a plumber, see ya tomorrow.’ When you see that at the time and he’s a three-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, it’s going to rub off and if it doesn’t you’re probably not going to be there.” The NFL, of course, is ever-changing. The Patriots turned over 1/3 of their roster last year and could face another overhaul this season. With the combine and draft season on the way, it will be up to Belichick and his staff to find the next Edelman to keep this dynasty going years into the future.
But for now, it’s a good thing he got that tip from a sportswriter 10 years ago to go look at an unknown, undersized player at a Mid-American Conference school.
“The game that really impressed me the most was the Ohio State game,” Belichick said. “He didn’t have a lot of blocking and they were getting killed, but what you saw in that game was how hard he was to tackle, how competitive he was and how tough he was. He played the game with an intensity that was hard for them to handle. It’s an incredible story.”