Getty Julian Edelman paid tribute to his former Patriots teammate Tom Brady.
Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is paying tribute to Tom Brady’s retirement.
As the NFL world continues to react to the surprising ESPN report of Brady’s retirement on Saturday, January 29, his close friend and teammate of 11 seasons in New England gave a refreshing response to his former quarterback’s decision.
“Thanks for the memories, babe. @TomBrady,” Edelman tweeted.
Thanks for the memories, babe. @TomBrady
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington first announced Brady’s imminent decision to retire following 22 seasons of play, the last two of which were spent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
However, Brady, who is currently out of the country according to Patriots insider Tom E. Curran, has yet to formally make an announcement and told Bucs head coach Bruce Arians on Saturday that he “wasn’t close” to reaching a decision on his football future, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine.
Brady’s agent, Don Yee, and father, Tom Brady Sr., also quickly threw cold water on the news.
Edelman too tried to walk back his initial tweet with a follow-up: “Can’t a guy thank another guy for the memories without everyone thinking he’s retiring!?” the retired receiver wrote two hours later.
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Edelman a Significant Figure in Brady’s Success
Brady’s reported decision to retire comes just six days after the Bucs were eliminated from the playoffs. It also comes after a season in which Brady established himself as a leading MVP candidate after leading the NFL in touchdowns (43), passing yards (5,316) and completions (485).
Edelman and Brady teamed up to lead the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories and five Super Bowl appearances. While Brady garnered most of the headlines, Edelman himself shined in the biggest moments.
In the Patriots’ most recent Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams at the conclusion of the 2018 season, Edelman won Super Bowl MVP honors with his 10-catch, 141-yard performance.
Edelman’s legendary postseason performance while teamed up with Brady is nothing short of spectacular. Despite playing just 12 seasons, Edelman ranks second in postseason history (behind Jerry Rice) for receptions and receiving yards. The peak of Edelman’s performance was when he caught 26 balls for 388 yards during the 2018 postseason.
Edelman Thought Brady Could Retire
Edelman stated just hours before Schefter and Darlington’s initial report that he believed Brady could retire.
“It’s tough when he starts bringing up family. It’s gonna have to be really good for him, probably. The team, how it’s going, who’s there, what coordinators are there. He has to feel like he can go out and win it,” Edelman said on Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast on Friday, January 28. “But this is the most I’ve ever felt like he could probably hang ’em up. It wouldn’t surprise me either way, that’s how — he keeps his poker face pretty good.”
When Brady became non-committal on playing the 2022 season — something he hadn’t done in the past — it became obvious that retirement was something the legendary quarterback was at least leaning towards.
The 44-year-old quarterback will conclude his NFL career as the all-time leader in wins, touchdown passes, passing yardage and completions.
Edelman Shoots Down Potential Belichick Retirement
When Edelman was asked about his thoughts on whether or not longtime Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will call it a career, the former wide receiver shared that he doesn’t believe that will happen anytime soon.
“No,” Edelman replied. “I don’t think he thinks like that. I think it motivates him more. Because he’ll see things, like, that dude just, he loves every bit of the process. Like he loves that — well he doesn’t love that they lost, but turn the page, literally probably like that next Tuesday, on the treadmill, looking at the draft, looking at how you need to do the self-scout, we’ve gotta look at our team, what do we gotta do? He’s thinking about all of that right now. It could’ve changed this past year, I wasn’t in the building, I don’t know, but like, from when I left, he had the same routine to the exact tee every single year.”
“Like you didn’t see any complacency kick in,” Edelman continued. “I think he just honestly loves football to the point where he wants to go out there, and there are probably some underlying competitive things with Tom. I bet you there is.”