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Former New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman explained why he didn't join Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski in Tampa Bay. Edelman was a key member of the Patriots dynasty, but he opted to not join the Buccaneers.
Brady and Gronkowski ended up leading Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl in 2020. Edelman, while speaking on his Dudes on Dudes podcast, said he needed to go down with the ship in New England.
"I had to go down with the ship, buddy," Edelman said. "I had to go down with the god damn ship. Have you seen Titanic? You know the old captain? You know the old violin guy?"
Gronkowski said he respected Edelman's decision to not go to Tampa Bay:
"You're the violin guy. I respect that, bro."
Edelman played the 2020 season with the Patriots but dealt with injuries. He announced his retirement from the NFL on April 12, 2021, after 12 seasons with the Patriots.
Julian Edelman discusses potentially being a Hall of Famer
Julian Edelman was a key receiver for the New England Patriots dynasty as he helped the team win three Super Bowls.
After his retirement, many fans were debating on whether or not Edelman would be a Hall of Famer. Earlier this year, he spoke on The Pat McAfee Show and said that isn't up to him to decide.
"That's for other people to decide, that's not what I decide. That's just how it works. You look at my regular season, I probably didn't have the numbers for it. Postseason, whatever, it's different," Edelman said on The Pat McAfee Show (via Bleacher Report).
"But people also don't understand is when you open the season with 30, 40 catches in the first three games, you've got to break tendencies. So then you don't see the rock for three games because we're trying to prepare for the playoffs. ... It's hard to get stats when you're blowing everyone out. It's hard to get stats when you're running it out in the second half," Edleman concluded.
Edelman finished his career with 620 receptions for 6,282 yards and 36 touchdowns in the regular season. In the playoffs, he added 118 receptions for 1,442 yards and five touchdowns and was Super Bowl MVP in 2018.
