How Julian Edelman went from wildcat quarterback to fringe NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver
KENT, Ohio (BVM) — Most college quarterbacks that transition to wide receiver at the pro level struggle. In the past decade, there鈥檚 been numerous examples of college football quarterbacks turning into wide receivers in the NFL — including Braxton Miller, Terrelle Pryor and Josh Cribbs — and they are now all out of the league.
Julian Edelman is not your average college football quarterback to wide receiver transition.
Born in Redwood, Calif., Edelman — the youngest child of Angela and Frank — played varsity football in high school. As a senior, he led the Redwood Wildcats to a 13-0 record.听
After high school, Edelman played his freshman ball at the College of Saint Mateo, a public community college in Saint Mateo, Calif. — about a 20-minute drive from Redwood. Edelman threw for 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also ran for a school-record 1,253 yards and scored 17 touchdowns on the ground.
After his freshman season, Edelman transferred to Kent State where he became a three-year starter for the Golden Flashes, scoring 52 total touchdowns and racking up 7,480 yards. The Flashes never had a winning record during Edelman鈥檚 years at quarterback. The closest Kent State came to winning under Edelman was in 2006 when the team finished 6-6, but they did not receive a bowl game invitation.听
Edelman was not invited to the 2009 NFL combine. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, a team who had won three championships in the decade, had a Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady and a Hall of Fame head coach in Bill Belichick.
The assumption of Edelman coming out of the draft was he could be used as a wildcat quarterback — somebody who occasionally takes a snap out of the shotgun formation instead of the quarterback.听
But Edelman turned out to be much more than a wildcat quarterback.
He showed his potential in his first-career regular season game when he caught eight balls for 98 yards in the Patriots鈥� Week 2 victory against the New York Jets (he missed Week 1 with an ankle injury). Both stats led the team.听
In Week 6, he broke his arm during a Patriots 59-0 beatdown against the Tennessee Titans. He would return later in the season and finished his rookie campaign with 37 receptions for 359 yards and a touchdown.
Over the next ten seasons, Edelman would build his resume, and he is now known as one of the most clutch wide receivers in NFL history. As Brady鈥檚 go-to slot receiver, Edelman is second all-time in playoff receptions, trailing only Jerry Rice.听
He has played in four Super Bowls, winning three, and he has led the Patriots in receptions and yardage twice in the four games (Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl LVIII). In Super Bowl LVIII against the Rams, he caught 10 passes for a total of 141 yards. For his performance, Edelman was named Super Bowl LVIII MVP.
In his first season without Brady under center for the Patriots, Edelman caught only 21 balls for 315 yards from new quarterback Cam Newton, but he was limited to only six games due to a knee injury.
As the NFL season winds down, there is speculation the 2020 NFL season could have been Edelman鈥檚 last.
On Jan.12, Edelman , 鈥淏oston I love you. You鈥檝e weighed on me and my family鈥檚 mind for a long time.鈥�
Boston I love you. You鈥檝e weighed on my and my family鈥檚 mind for a long time! 馃檶馃檹馃徎鉂わ笍 #馃拲馃拲馃拲馃惪
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11)
A former high school and college quarterback who many experts thought would be at best a wildcat quarterback at the pro level turned playing wide receiver for the Patriots into a
If 2020 was indeed Edelman鈥檚 last season in the NFL, he will live in Patriots鈥� fans’ hearts forever for his decade of excellence on the gridiron.
