At the end of the New England Patriots romping of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game, wide receiver Julian Edelman knew that his quarterback Tom Brady was the first person he had to thank.
Grab a tissue, because Edelman’s words are more than endearing when he speaks about his hero Brady (via NFL.com)
Tom Brady is Tom Brady. He was a sixth-round draft pick. A lot of people passed up on him. He’s a Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP. He’s been in a bunch of Super Bowls and he could care less about all of that. He just cares about winning the next game.
That’s our leader and that’s why you have a guy like that leading us. He’s an unbelievable person and I truly love that man. I do. It’s great to have him a part of this team.
Edelman can relate to Brady on a couple of different levels as he himself was a late-round draft pick and a college quarterback. He has evolved into Brady’s No. 1 wide receiver over the last two seasons, replacing Wes Welker’s role.
Edelman was also Brady’s go-to guy in a washout win over the Colts on Sunday with a team-leading nine receptions for 98 yards. Getting to this point and becoming the AFC champions wasn’t easy, as Edelman describes the grueling work that led to this victory.
I guess it means (that) you bring the lunch pail to work, the helmet. You go work, you prepare, you get yelled at all, you do all of this kind of stuff. You work extra, you watch more film, and it’s for situations and things like this to go and play in the last game of the year. That’s what I think being a Patriot means.
This hard work certainly won’t cease over the next two weeks. The Patriots will prepare to battle the Seattle Seahawks for the right to hoist the Lombardi. Should New England win, we wouldn’t put it past Edelman to lay a wet one on Brady right there on the field in Arizona.