FOXBOROUGH – Julian Edelman took his new Patriots Hall of Fame red jacket for a test ride Friday.
He loved the fit.
“This is an unbelievable surreal moment for me,” said Edelman, who spoke with the media after putting the jacket on for the first time. “Just thinking about where I came from, my story. If you were to ask me my first day if I was going to be inducted into this Hall, I don’t think I would have said: ‘Yeah.’
“It was such a long road. But being drafted here, playing my whole career here, being surrounded by the people that were the best examples to be around, if you wanted to stick around … the Tom Bradys, the Kevin Faulks early, the Tedy Bruschis early, the Matthew Slaters, the Devin McCourtys … those guys challenged me in ways and made me put myself into a mindset to be the guy not to want to disappoint anyone. I think it was a blessing for me to come here.”
Edelman, who won three Super Bowls with the team, will be officially inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame Saturday along with former head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Parcells.
The 4 p.m. ceremony, which is open to the pubic, will be held in the Patriot Place Plaza, just outside the Patriots Hall of Fame.
The wide receiver said he takes pride in the fact he played his whole career (2009-2020) with the Patriots. Brady asked him to join him in Tampa before his final year, but Edelman was content being a Patriots lifer.
“I think it’s amazing to get to play my career just in New England,” Edelman said. “Where there times when I thought I was going to leave? Yeah. But that’s the business part of the sport. Your feelings get hurt when you’re a young guy. They bring someone in, and they don’t give you the contract you want. There are so many emotions that get built up with that whole process. Did I think I was going to play somewhere else? Yeah. But didn’t want to. And thankfully I didn’t.”
Playing in New England isn’t for everybody. But Edelman embraced it.
“It’s a real crowd. You’ll get some boo-birds if you’re not playing the way you’re supposed to,” he said. “But if you are playing well, and you do have success, there’s no other fan base that you’d rather have around you.”
In describing his mindset as a player, Edelman said he had to be “happily miserable” to make sure he never got complacent.
The Patriots 7th-round draft pick was a quarterback during his college career at Kent State.
He knew based on visits from the Patriots that they had other ideas in mind for him as a player.
Did he think being flipped from quarterback to receiver was a good idea or crazy?
“After the first day I saw Tom (Brady) throw the ball, I said ‘Damn, that’s a great idea,’’’ Edelman answered with a laugh.
“But I knew I was going down that road. I knew I wasn’t going to be a quarterback. I was just willing to do anything I could to make the team.”
Edelman said his acceptance speech Saturday will revolve around no achievement being done alone and thanking the people who were a huge part of his Hall of Fame journey.
For him, it’s like he’s coming back home.
Said Edelman: “This feels more like home than anywhere I’ve lived in the last five years, including my home town.”
