I thought I should release this gem I found from 2011 #sbmvp pic.twitter.com/novYD7Z6hL

— James Hogan (@JHogan914) February 4, 2019

Listen it’s easy to pull bad takes out of anyone’s closet, Old Takes Exposed has literally made a career out of it, but this is so, so bad. Maybe it’s because as a 5’8″ moderately athletic guy I have an unhealthy affinity for underutilized slot guys, but I always felt like Julian Edelman was just waiting to take over for Wes Welker. Or maybe it’s because Edelman was a stud 5th wide receiver for me in Madden running in my empty sets. Who knows?

But the guy was athletic, shifty, quick (not to mention a beast on punt returns) so to just outright dump on the guy from the start makes no sense. He had 37 catches as a rookie in 2009, just a couple of months removed from playing quarterback at Kent State for christ’s sake.

Not to mention, he was the reason for the sneaky funniest thing Bill Belichick has ever said when he dropped a Wally Pip reference right in Welker’s face after Edelman’s punt return TD in the 09 preseason.

I always said if the guy could get healthy he would be a stud in the Patriots offense. What do you ya know? In 2013 when he played 16 games for the first time in his career, he broke out with 105 receptions for 1,000+ yards.

Now did I ever think in my wildest dreams that Edelman would blow past the cult status of Wes Welker, establish himself as arguably the greatest receiver in Patriots history, and earn Super Bowl MVP honors along the way? Umm..no.

But I always knew he’d be a great player in this Patriots offense. I was even chirping Volin about it back in ’13.