Julian Edelman eventually emerged as one of Tom Brady’s most reliable targets, but he doesn’t think he made a strong first impression on his former New England Patriots teammate.
On his Games with Names podcast (h/t NESN’s Adam London), Edelman recalled Brady cursing him out after botching their first attempted connection.
“First pass ever from Tom, they put in a package with four receivers — a four-wide group — and they gave me a play,” Edelman said. “I had never played receiver, but they created a package for me and they were like, ‘All right, Edelman. Get in.’ I run, like, a hook route and Tom darts it on me and I tried to run before I had it because I wanted to do something with it. I dropped the ball. He goes, Catch the (expletive) ball, Julian!’ I went home and cried. I went home and cried. I felt pretty (expletive) for like four days. It took me so long to earn his trust after that (expletive) play. It took me like three years to earn his trust.”
He said he was in Brady’s doghouse with “not even a paw out.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoLbspbjbKJ
Edelman played quarterback at college before New England converted him to wide receiver. The seventh-round pick registered 359 receiving yards as a rookie, but he caught 11 of only 23 targets for 120 yards in the two ensuing years.
However, Edelman earned Brady’s trust when garnering 151 targets in 2013. He posted his first of three 1,000-yard seasons over a spectacular six-year window that included three Super Bowl championships and 1,337 receiving yards in 13 playoff games.