Why Tom Brady made Julian Edelman cry

Wide receiver Julian Edelman and quarterback Tom Brady weren’t always the best of friends as teammates with the New England Patriots. 

As shared by Adam London of NESN, Edelman detailed during his “Games with Names” podcast how he converted from playing quarterback in college to the role of receiver after the Patriots spent a seventh-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft to add him to an offense.

Edelman understandably endured some growing pains that weren’t well received by his QB1. 

“My first pass ever from Tom, they put in a package with four receivers — a four-wide group — and they gave me a play,” Edelman explained. “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, you know, 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.” 

Edelman’s relationship with Brady improved over time and thanks to numerous successes. In total, Edelman earned three championship rings and Super Bowl LIII Most Valuable Player honors in February 2019 while playing alongside Brady until the signal-caller signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020. 

From there, Edelman was routinely linked in stories and rumors with the Buccaneers up until his retirement in April 2021. Unlike Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski, Edelman never embarked on a comeback. 

More recently, Edelman somewhat trolled Brady after the seven-time Super Bowl champion announced his second and “for good” retirement last week: