Cam Newton joined the New England Patriots last summer, joining a new organization for the first time in his career. Upon arrival, one Patriots player resonated with him in particular: Julian Edelman.
Following the departure of Tom Brady in the 2020 offseason, Edelman served as a bit of a bridge between the two eras of Patriots football.
Newton had his reservations as to whether the Patriot Way was a true mentality. Edelman’s work ethic and mannerisms proved to him that the mentality was very much a real thing. In an Instagram video posted on Friday, Newton talked about how Edelman got him to buy into it.
“It’s really a thing,” Newton said in a video posted to Instagram. “And I walked in here thinking ‘Man, work is work. I work.’ This was when Jules was still on the team and he just was like, ‘This is how it is. Hey bubs, I’m telling you just like this: Be ready to (expletive) work. Let’s (expletive) go, let’s go.’ That was just him, he was always wired.
“I think I fell in love with Jules and his mentality. Jules was that guy, that individual that people looked to, I know I looked to that said, ‘Hey bro, this is how we do it. This is what needs to be done. I’m not going to say how things used to be, but if you’re going to come here, you have to have this warrior’s mentality. And it’s not all physical, and that’s what people forget. It’s not all physical, it’s mental too.”
With Edelman fully embracing this mentality during his time with New England, it now may be up to Newton to carry the torch.
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