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Watch: Check In at Wynn with Julian Edelman
Greatness is something three-time Super Bowl Champion Julian Edelman knows a lot about — how to be great, what it feels like to be surrounded by greatness and the ability to go to great places … like Wynn Las Vegas.
The former New England Patriots wide-receiver and current Fox Sports football analyst has taught us that greatness is a choice made by the brave, the confident and the well-practiced.
Host Valerie Lee checks in with one-half of one of our most favorite sports duos of all time at Wynn’s Fairway Villas where they delve into the mindset and regimen that catapulted him to superstar status.
“I was around the football field in diapers with my dad as a coach and that's where the love began to grow. Some of my first memories were on a football field. By the time I jumped in at 8 years old… scoring a touchdown, or throwing a touchdown or running a touchdown, that's what I got attracted to,” Edelman says.
In college at Kent State, he started as a quarterback, but ended up becoming one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
“Being a quarterback you get the ball in your hands, so that was a great way for me to learn the game. As a quarterback, you're responsible for everyone … so the cerebral side helped me when transitioning to wide receiver,” he says.
Early in his career, he moved out to L.A., and started throwing sessions with Tom Brady and that changed everything for Edelman.
“I told my agent, I want to throw with [Brady] in the offseason. He called me once and I dropped everything. He ran me like a golden retriever. And that year, he called me more and more. Then the next year he called me a lot. We were doing it three times a week,” Edelman says. “I think that time together in the offseason, learning each other — I was learning what he wanted, he was learning me, that's when we developed our friendship.”
Retired in 2020, Edelman, who is now 37, is making the transition into a new career and life phase, one that involves saying “yes” more than “no.”
“I get to explore things I've had interest in my whole life. You say ‘no,’ so much to loved ones, family, friends, when you're playing. When you retire, this is when you start saying ‘yes.’ I get to take my daughter to school. I get to go to soccer practice and I get to go to soccer games. It's awesome.”