The New England Patriots build a dynasty from 2001 to 2018.
The franchise — led by Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick — won six Super Bowls during that time frame — while capturing 13 division titles and falling in a few Super Bowls as well.
Julian Edelman was a key piece to the Patriots’ success, playing for the franchise from 2009 to 2020 after getting selected in the 7th round of the 2009 NFL Draft.
Edelman had plenty of memorable moments during his time in New England, and was ultimately on the losing side of his first Super Bowl appearance with the Pats In 2011, due to the ridiculous catch from David Tyree to set up the Giants for the win.
Julian Edelman Tells Hilarious Michael Jordan Story That Happened Before New England Patriots 2014 Super Bowl Win
When 2014 came around, Edelman was a seasoned veteran and had emerged as one of Brady’s top targets.
Earlier this week, the former Patriots’ wideout shared an amazing story involving an encounter with Derek Jeter and Michal Jordan just ahead of the 2014 Super Bowl showdown against the Seattle Seahawks.
“We are playing the Super Bowl, 2014, and the week before the Super Bowl I took my folks to dinner and I roll up, and see Derek Jeter.” Edelman recounted.
“I’m like super star struck, I’m about to play in this Super Bowl and I go up, and you could tell Jeter is a super charming guy, very welcoming. I go, ‘Mr. Jeter, I’m Julian Edelman, about to play in the Super Bowl.”
This is where the story takes an absolutely incredible turn.
“And I saw Jordan, he was kind of stand-offish, a little bit, and as soon as the conversation is about to end, five minutes and I’m about to leave, Jordan comes up to me and he goes, ‘hey kid, I got a bunch of money on you, don’t f— it up.’ And that’s the only thing he said to me, I go, ‘yes sir Mr. Jordan,’ I didn’t know what to say.”
Julian Edelman and New England Patriots Deliver for Michael Jordan, But He Didn’t Stop There
Luckily, the GOAT of basketball must have been pleased with the result, from both Edelman and the Patriots’ team as a whole.
In Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks, Edelman led all receivers in yardage with 109 yards on nine receptions (teammate Shane Vereen had 11 receptions). His touchdown reception with 2:02 left in the fourth quarter—his only touchdown reception of the postseason—was the final go-ahead score of the game, putting the Patriots up 28–24. For the postseason as a whole, Edelman led all receivers in both receptions (26) and receiving yards (281).
That capped off a major year for Julian Edelman. He had 92 receptions for 972 receiving yards, as well as four touchdowns to close out the regular season, but his postseason accomplishments were even better.
Edelman won his second Super Bowl title with the New England Patriots in 2016, just two years later.
In 2017, the Patriots’ star receiver missed the season due to injury and New England ended up falling to the Eagles in the Super Bowl that year.
But 2018 was a different story.
After another productive regular season, the Patriots and Edelman found themselves in prime contention to make yet another run at a Super Bowl.
In the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Chargers, he had nine receptions for 151 yards in the Patriots’ 41–28 victory. In the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs, he had seven receptions for 96 yards in the 37–31 overtime victory, including two catches on 3rd-and-long situations to keep the eventual game-winning drive in overtime going. In Super Bowl LIII, in a 13–3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, Edelman caught 10 passes on 12 targets for 141 yards, an effort for which he was named Most Valuable Player (MVP). He became the first wide receiver to win Super Bowl MVP since Santonio Holmes did so in Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.
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