Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman sang the praises of former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who recently interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons head coaching job.
Edelman was the classic example of a Belichick success story. He was taken by the Patriots as a seventh-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft. The former Kent State quarterback made the move to wide receiver early in his career and had a productive career that included 6,822 receiving yards and 36 touchdowns in 12 seasons with the Patriots.
Edelman spoke on a recent episode of the “Let’s Go!” Podcast and discussed his time playing in New England. He made sure to give props to Belichick while doing so, as transcribed by WEEI’s Mike Kadlick.
“Yeah, he was tough. Yeah, you hated him. Yes, he was a [expletive]. But he made you better,” said Edelman. “He coached everyone a little different because he felt certain people needed certain things to make them play better. And I was one— I was in that category where, you know, you didn’t get that love.
“It was like the better you did, the more shade he would give you just to show the other 53 guys… I love coach. I wish him the best. I hope he gets the record so I can put on my resume that I played with the best receiver of all time (Randy Moss), the best quarterback of all time (Tom Brady), and I played with the best football coach of all time.”
Edelman became one of the best slot receivers in Patriots’ history. He embraced the challenge of a positional shift and ended up being better from Belichick’s decision.
