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Julian Edelman has a big next few days coming up with Fox Sports. On Thursday, he released a new music video, Talkin’ Football, with his former Patriots teammate and current Gronk & Jules podcast cohost Rob Gronkowski.
On Sunday, Gronkowski is getting inducted into the Patriots’ Hall of Fame, the 2016 Super Bowl team will be honored, and their former teammate, Tom Brady, is calling his first New England game in two-and-a-half years with Fox when the Patriots take on the Packers. The network will also be celebrating Veteran’s Day with its programming.
Ahead of this weekend’s festivities, Edelman spoke to FOS about the music video, upcoming festivities, what it will be like for Brady to return to Foxborough, which NFL quarterback he’d pick for the next five years, and whether the Rams are “overusing” Puka Nacua.
Front Office Sports: You’ve got this music video with Gronk coming out. How did this project come together and what did you learn about the process of making one of these?
Julian Edelman: It came together with our marketing and social team and our whole team of people thought this would be a good idea. They put us in the studio, we sang—I’ve been holding in these vocals for a long time, wanted to let them shine, and I’m excited to see what the people think about my voice.
FOS: Did you ever think this was something that you would do?
JE: I’ve done a lot of things, so I wouldn’t put it past me. I’ve been in so many different verticals of crazy videos—YouTube, Instagram; I’ve been in this content-making game since 2011, so did I see myself making a music video? Probably not, but does it surprise me? No.
FOS: This Sunday is a pretty packed Fox event, between Gronk’s team Hall of Fame induction and Tom Brady calling his first Patriots game for the network. What’s your thoughts on all of these things coming together at once in a perfect storm?
JE: We also have a huge Veteran’s Day program for all the men and women who have served our country. We have two pregame shows with Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox NFL Sunday where we’ll be on two locations with our service members. That’s going to be exciting as well.
Going back to Foxborough is going to be insane. Tom calling his first game. The place will be rocking. You’ve got two really good football teams. The Packers have gotten hot the last couple weeks. The Patriots have come on the last three or four weeks. You’ve got Gronk getting into the Hall of Fame. We’re also celebrating the 2016 Super Bowl 28–3 Falcons game, so we’ll have all our teammates there.
It’s just gonna be really fun to get to see guys you haven’t seen in a long time. There’s something that’s always said in the locker room when it’s your last game: “You’ll never be the 2016 football team ever again” — because there’s new coaches and players every year, so it will be a really good time to celebrate a larger-than-life character in Gronk. I don’t think people realize this guy was like a Beatle in Boston with how big his persona was.
Having Tom, a man who dedicated his life to New England, brought them the most success an NFL organization will ever experience with one quarterback, probably—I would say like 98% chance—and for me being the guy who was inducted into the [Pats] Hall of Fame last year, getting to celebrate with my teammates, is going to just be a really fun, memorable weekend for us all.
And, to celebrate with the fans—we all have our own lives now. We’re all away from the game, or the team, or the area, and to get to go back to where we were in our glory days—it’s just gonna be a fun experience.
FOS: What does that type of celebration look like when you guys all get together?
JE: It’s a bunch of guys who sit and talk war stories, going over the joys, failures, and grind that we went through. It’s just a good refresher of things you may not remember, or you bring something up that someone else didn’t remember, and it’s a good time to go over an incredible accomplishment that we did as a team. The incredible accomplishment of probably the greatest tight end ever, Rob Gronkowski, and to have Tom there calling the game is the cherry on top.
FOS: How do you expect that to go for Tom? As you mentioned, he accomplished so much with the Patriots, but the ending, as endings tend to be, was not the happiest there. What type of emotions are you expecting him to experience and communicate to the viewer?
JE: You’d have to ask him, but I can tell you right now he’s won more Super Bowls with that organization than any other team has won in the history of the game. So, I can’t speak for him or for the fans. The Boston people know what’s up. Tom Brady loved his time. It made him who he was to be in New England, so I think it’s gonna be a great moment.
FOS: You had commented a couple times on Bill Belichick’s relationship with Jordon Hudson. What were your thoughts when you saw that relationship came to an end?
JE: I don’t have really any comment on Bill’s personal life. I haven’t spoken to him in awhile, so I’m more focused on the great weekend that we’re going to celebrate with Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady calling the game, and the 2016 Super Bowl championship Patriots along with celebrating our vets.
FOS: As you look at the quarterbacks across the league, which one would you want for the next five years?
JE: It would have to be either Josh Allen, Caleb Williams, or Drake Maye. They all have tremendous arm strength and talent. They’re all mobile. The contracts of Caleb and Drake are still rookie contracts, so there’s a lot of value there to build teams around them. With a guy like Josh Allen who’s getting $65 million a year, it’s harder to surround him with better players, so I’m taking everything into consideration. But he’s that good where he doesn’t need as many good players around him when he’s playing in that kind of flow.
I’d maybe throw Joe Burrow in there too.
FOS: For the last probably eight years, the answer would have been Patrick Mahomes. Is that no longer the case going forward?
JE: I think Pat has a lot in the tank, and he’s going through the transition of a new team. He’s already played a career. He’s coming off a knee injury. After next year, if you’re asking the same question, it could be a completely different four quarterbacks, but I do think he’s in that upper echelon as well. You can’t turn your eye on Patrick Mahomes, especially with the run game he has right now and the new kind of game he’s evolving to. I wouldn’t forget him.
FOS: You had some years where you had a lot of usage with targets and catches. There’s been some allegations that the Rams are “overusing” Puka Nacua as his contract is expiring and they’ve suffered a lot of injuries. What do you make of that narrative?
JE: I can tell you from my experience that when you touch the ball 130 times a season, that means you’re getting hit 130 times. This league is a very vicious league, and it does beat you up. After I had a huge season catching the ball, I usually got hurt halfway through the next season because my body couldn’t take it.
Now, I’m not Puka Nacua. He’s a different, bigger receiver. He’s very physical. But if you’re going to have a guy in his last year, I would think you want to see what you have with him and use it until you don’t have him.
I think there’s a bunch of different reasons why they’re doing it. Right now they’re hurt at wide receiver and tight end. They really don’t have anyone else to fall back on. I can anticipate that they’ll probably try to slow it down when they get guys off the injury report. But, that’s the fine line you have to play in this game. If you’re getting used a lot, you’re more susceptible to getting hurt. That’s my experience.
