Julian Edelman: Surrounded by GOATs (Re-Release)

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0:56For the ones who get it done.

1:00Rob Lowe:Big fan of yours. It's go time. This is definitely go time. You know, this has been a real exciting part of my life the last decade and a half.

1:20Rob Lowe:Hey, everybody, it's me, Robbie Lowski. It is literally. So Julian Edelman joins us today. the legendary patriot he's got more super bowl rings than i have that's for sure and i just love his story he's an undersized overlooked guy grinder and he ended up super bowl champion and uh mvp in 2019 and i am wearing my generic nfl hat for this interview and we're going to get to the bottom of all this Tom Brady nonsense. Where's that man playing? I need to know, and I'm going to know by the time this is over. So stand by.

2:11Rob Lowe:Julian, what's happening, man? Not much, man. How are you doing? I'm good. I'm psyched to talk to you. It's so funny. I mean, we'll probably be jumping around all over the place in this conversation. But I remember watching the famous Atlanta Super Bowl that you guys won and saying when Matt Ryan and the Falcons shit the bed so badly, I was like, they'll never be back. I was like, this is the end. I mean, I don't mean to be a dick and I'm not trying to be mean and everybody loves Matt Ryan. He seems to be a great guy. But it was, I knew you don't come back from that. That's a tough one for the old psyche.

2:47I've lost in the Super Bowl And it's a tough off season afterwards You're dealing with it Because you have that taste in the back of your throat You're playing in that final game And you go through all the I wish I would have In that whole preparation two week period That you had going into the Super Bowl The things I could have done Things that And never have I lost a game like that but it's definitely very hard to come come back from and i i i feel bad but i don't because you know yeah why would you hell no you can either win or you lose and you know it it was part of our team and and it shows a lot about the mental toughness of that 2016 football team uh in new England and then you know every team always has their almost their their theme and it was it was pretty that's pretty insane like I've watched that game I watched it probably like nine months ago for the first time on the tv copy oh wow as a spectator and as a fan and as the drama it's totally different it's a totally different experience isn't it totally different you know But the NFL does such a great job with producing and making this game into a story.

4:09And I sat and watched it. I was like, I don't know how we came back from that thing. That definitely puts you under.

4:16Rob Lowe:Yeah, you're living in real time. And then the viewer is having a completely different experience. And when there is a real storyline going on like that, the viewer is getting it in ways that the players never will. because you're reacting on the spot and doing your jobs. Meanwhile, the billion people watching have a whole other perspective. And when Matt Ryan took that sack, I was like, bro, you cannot take that sack. That, to me, was it. You got to throw that ball away. Period. Full stop. Yeah, you do. I mean, situationally, you probably don't want to take that sack, but there's more than just one play that defines that game.

5:02Rob Lowe:No, I know. You're right. You're right. You're right. That's how it goes. I mean, the holding penalty, the sack fumble by Trey Flowers, the Hightower sack, the two-point conversions by Danny Amendola and James White, having a rookie receiver on the outside, and Malcolm, who goes out and makes big-time catches in crucial situations to try getting the game to go into overtime. time Tom having a short memory with the first half on on the turnovers that you know we had and and the mental toughness for a team to really just you know put everything aside from what happened the first half and really just think about going out and winning each play I mean that's a disciplined thing to have to do and people don't realize it's hard to just kind of not foreshadow not think about what what what you're trying to achieve and really just think about the process and like all right well if we don't win this play it's just gonna go worse we just let's just stack winning plays and then that's what that team did no they really did um had steven a on the other day and we were talking about russell wilson and and um all that stuff and i was like there's a part of me that feels the same way about that because you've always spoken your mind and i feel like a lot of these nfl analysts are so in the tank for the nfl I love the NFL.

6:25Rob Lowe:We have a great relationship. You know, I don't want to say anything to piss the NFL off. But I think a lot of these announcers are so in the tank that they won't state the obvious. If you're Russell Wilson and you're this franchise quarterback and all this and you do not hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, why don't you just say, I didn't hear the call and hand it off? Because you know, you have to know, or you're an idiot. Say, I didn't hear the call. Yeah, but you don't know what the plan was going into that play I mean, we gave a 13 personnel group on defense Which is, you know, three safeties, one corner And a bunch of linebackers, big personnel So, like, that is like red flags as the quarterback Let's probably try to get our team in the best play call We hit this same play And we've checked into this play multiple times when we got a blitz zero look, let's do it again.

7:24And they've had success on it. I mean, they hit that exact play probably three or four times that year because I remember watching him practice in Arizona. Josh Boyce, one of our practice squad receivers at the time, killing our defense on that exact same play like 10 times in a row. And I'm thinking, and like the urgency is so high when you're practicing for the Super Bowl week. Like, everyone is yelling, Dan, like, the offense, when you're not doing something for that, you have a little time off your watch, how the defense does. You want to see if they're being accountable and they're putting their work in.

8:00And, you know, when defense isn't doing something, they're watching us. And everyone wants to see everything. That's it. And I look over to him and Dole. I hope they don't run this goddamn play because we're going to get smoked on it. But, you know, it happened. And we were prepared for it. And, you know, Coach Belichick made a great call. And he had a crazy look in his eye where he was staring over down at the other side of the – Oh, yeah. No, and that's another thing.

8:27Rob Lowe:Now, on the sidelines, could you see it? Because watching the game, it was patently obvious that Belichick was like putting the voodoo hex stare on him. Well, he did that. He was still – everyone was like assuming that we were going to take a timeout. Yeah. And he was letting it run down. And then he threw out that personnel group. I think he was looking to see what they were going to do and I mean that's part of his genius of being one of the best coaches of all time in all sports it's terrible for Seattle and their fan base and Marson and there's a terrible outcome, they won a Super Bowl the year before so I'm not really sad for them but someone's got to go out and win and there's going to be mistakes and that's football You know, it's that's the crazy thing about football.

9:19Anything can happen.

9:20Rob Lowe:Yeah, but they've never been arguably they've never been the same. It was, you know, wasn't much longer. Russell was gone. It's never been. It's just never been the same. Coach Belichick. I've never met him. Really want to meet him. I want to do, you know, as an actor, you've got to do press interviews all the time. You know, you know, whatever, red carpets and satellite media tours and Jalen or whatever. Jimmy Kimmel. I would love, I don't have the guts to do it, but I've thought for years about going on in a cut-up hoodie and just having nothing to say in the interviews where they'd be like, so 911 Lone Star, season four's coming out.

10:03Rob Lowe:What do you think about it? I'm like, I worked hard on it and people are going to like it. Just crickets. I would love, love to do Bill Belichick as a bit and commit to it. You know how long that segment would be? It would just be gnarly. It'd probably be about 15, 16 minutes with like 17 words, 12 words maybe. Yes, no, maybe, on to the next. It's the greatest thing ever. I just howl. The thing is, he does that strategically. you know he's such a he's such a crazy preparer where he doesn't want to give any information when you're talking about injuries scheme you could literally listen to some of these coaches in a post game or in a pre-game or in something or in an interview and they'll literally give you the answers to the test sometimes well we need to be physical we need to run the ball we need to set up our play action and so if you've got people that are watching this on the other side i mean you can already on first and second doubt they're going to try to pound that thing look out for this play action out of this for me so there's a lot of strategy there's a lot of information you can get out of those things and he doesn't want to give anything out and and that's why he does that i i think well it makes perfect sense but if you ask him if you ask him a historical question that has nothing to do with the game that specific game he will go into a crazy 15 minute model speech on you know how warrens taylor was great at this you know what i mean so yeah you just gotta figure out how to press the right button with old coach melichick he likes to fish right he's a big i think he does some deep sea fishing when he goes out into like i think he's got a place in south florida does he work out does he do like somebody told me a story gonna i'll butcher of coming in and seeing the Belichick's up at four in the morning.

12:06Rob Lowe:I don't know. Is he a workout guy or no? Yeah. I mean, coaches, they all are in the gym or doing something. I wouldn't call them workout warriors, but they definitely try to get some work in because they're around specimen athletes all day and they're harping like nothing's more important than your head off a dietician that's that and you'll see him in the locker room or you'll see him in the the weight room on a treadmill you know watching film with a sweat bag on with his playbook you know for hours late at night like that's what he does i mean that's part of his exercise uh routine i wouldn't call it like he's a workout warrior by any mean like but i mean if you look at him he's fit he's totally fit he's not i mean i wouldn't call yeah he's he's he's no Sylvester Stallone but he looks great for his age coach Belichick i mean he's aged pretty well with the stress that that guy uh ghost during and what is your what's your take on his relationship with uh Robert Kraft i mean i i i don't know personally what it is i know they have a pretty good working relationship by the 20-something years that they've been together, they've had a lot of success.

13:29So I think with anything, when you're with someone for a long period of time, I'm sure there's things that people don't agree on or have different opinions on, but they've always handled it very socially in front of everyone. And I've never ever thought of anything like, or like these guys ever dispute something or because there's always media headlines out there that are saying like this or that you know that there's a funk or there's this and that's just people trying to get a story and that's just yeah they're just trying to tell us the content

14:08Rob Lowe:the only the only version of that i ever thought hmm i wonder if there's any there there was um you know how how tom ended up you know moving on and is it like how hard did Belichick fight to keep Tom. Because there's a part of me that makes up, what I make up, is both those guys at a certain point have ticked every box, they've done everything there is to do, they're both the goats, and there's a part of them that goes, you know what, I'd like to see, I just want to show people that I can do this on my own, that it isn't just a systems offense. in New England that you can just plug and play. That's sort of what I make up about it.

14:58Rob Lowe:Any thoughts? Yeah, I mean, they were together for a long time and they're both competitive people. And, you know, I don't know personally how that really went down. Football is crazy, you know? Like, when guys do their business with the team, it's not like we all just get in the locker room and we sit and call it like, hey, so I hit this guy, you know, what's going on? Like, it's not like that. You kind of allow people to do and make their own decisions because ultimately they make decisions for their team and that's their family. So you let people do that on their own. But, you know, you spend a lot of time with a lot of people and then they got to a bunch of different levels that a lot of people will never even fathom or even think about getting with them out of success that these two have had.

15:46You know, they're competitive guys. I'm sure they, you know, once it went, they went in different directions, they're both probably trying to compete against each other. So, you know, that's probably what it is. You never know.

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20:06Rob Lowe:it's i'm always entertained this time of year is is uh the uh annual um like paul tuxy phil the groundhog that comes out every year it's the is aaron rogers going to retire or go it's like it's a that can't be great well well he lost his best wide receiver over it last year yeah i don't get it i love he's cool dude i mean i think he's a stud and i love watching him play met him once seemed super nice and everything but it doesn't feel i don't get the feeling that green bay wants to move off of them he's their guy so i don't i don't really get what the drama is every year it's pretty nuts right now with with the nfl in general and and seeing with the salary cap how teams are having success we look at three of the four teams in the final four right now they're all on rookie contract deals with the quarterback.

21:01And so that means they can pay a whole bunch of people around them. Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, Burrow, they all have insane amount of weapons. And that's because they're not taking up the majority of the cap. Now, Patrick Mahomes is there, but he lost Tyree Kill. So, you know, there's a little playing ball on what your priority is at the quarterback position. Do you want to make money or do you want to win? He took less money a lot of the years. So a lot of guys get a lot of different other players. And that showed you his priority was winning. And Aaron, I mean, you can't read minds, but you can read mannerisms.

21:42I mean, if you're going to go out and you want to be the highest paid guy, you've got to sit there and say, well, you're probably not going to get the best weapons because you can't afford it. There's a salary cap. That's why there's so much parity in the National Football League. and it's getting pretty interesting if you take a deep dive and watch this these next five or six years how teams are going to start approaching their roster like you know this Brock Purdy thing if he goes back here and wins this thing I mean that's going to be a new template on how to build a team potentially because these younger quarterbacks they're getting smarter they're developing quicker because they've been playing in seven on seven camps since they were 20 years old with specialty coaches.

22:23There's so much more information for them to gather. Athletes are evolving at such a faster rate, and they're being able to get in the league and just plug and play. I mean, look at your Marchase at the receiver position. It used to be one of the hardest positions to, like, really jump in the league because of, you know, the complexity of the game, the reading of this. And all these guys have been doing this for a long time, so it's a testing. So I don't know if I answered the question. No, you did.

22:53Rob Lowe:100%. I mean, so the theory is, by the way, it's the same in baseball. My Dodgers, I mean, 111 games and nothing to show for it. And I'm like, build a team that wins 85 games then. Just go build a team that wins 85 games. You don't need to win 111 games. It's the new way the sport has developed. do you need a quote-unquote franchise quarterback you know these new kids man get them out run them run them out see how they do yeah it's it's with the rules and the cap i mean you're gonna start seeing a lot of change and and it's it's gonna be interesting to see who cup goes out wins this and then you're gonna see the ripple effect because whenever you win a super bowl guys unload when When you win, people are getting paid.

23:47Rob Lowe:You know what I mean? I saw it with the Rams. I mean, listen. Oof. We were an anomaly with the New England Patriots with the amount of years we were able to hold the success, 20-plus years. How was that? Is that a Bob Kraft thing? Nobody bailed. I think it's a joint effort between everyone. I think it's Mr. Kraft allowing Coach Belichick to do the football things and them having a great working relationship. The players that signed the contracts with Coach Belichick and the Patriots, Brady being there, the guys buying into the system. There's so many different theories and there's so many different ways to go out and win.

24:38You know, it's different now, though, because it's already the league continually changes. I mean, from when I got in the league in 2009, by the time I got out, I mean, it was different games. So, like, there's constant learning on where the game's going, how the game is moving, what players are getting more and more valuable. I mean, if you look at receivers versus the running back, you know, in the last 10 years, a running back is almost irrelevant. Those guys are like a dime a dozen because the game has become such a past-dominant game. Now you're seeing Lestipers making$20 million. You know what I mean?

25:14That was never – if he ever even thought about that. And tight ends are next. And tight ends are next with Travis Kelsey and Gronkowski and what these guys have laid the foundation for. So it's become a big space game. So that means these guys that are catching that ball are going to get paid a lot more. I just wish I played in that era or I played in this era, you know, instead of played in an era where it wasn't getting mad at that kind of dude.

25:42Rob Lowe:Yeah, I can only imagine watching that and seeing how that goes on. Am I crazy to think that Joe Burrow reminds me a lot of Tom? He's like a modern day Tom. Isn't he? Kind of. Is it the mechanics? Well, I think it's because of his pocket presence. You know how he can manipulate the pocket With a sudden move he takes deep drops He can step up He has to go out and win some Super Bowls Here but you know he's got That cool calm collectness in any Kind of situation it seems when You know the team needs it the most he comes And performs and that's what you know Brady Did for 20 he's still doing And that's why it reminds you a little Of that and it's also you know he doesn't Have the the flashiness Of you know the improv skill of what you know Mahomes and Josh Allen have and it almost reminds you of like when Brady was playing and everyone always talked about Peyton and and and Breeze and how these guys had signature plays and signature you know type games but no one ever could really pinpoint when Brady did his he just went out and won you know what I mean that's kind of what Joe Joe's doing I mean he was down three linemen no one gave him a shot I couldn't believe it He's dribbled in Buffalo in a snow game, and he starts out nine for nine, two touchdowns.

27:08Rob Lowe:I thought he was going to be wheeled out on a stretcher based on the way that line played the week before. You would definitely—you knew he wasn't going to be taken out by a stretcher because the year of last year, the team led in allowing sacks, and he was still into the Super Bowl, which is like—that's an anomaly. So durable. The ability to find a way to get it done, that's what reminds me of Brady in performing under pressure. And he does have, even though he was the Heisman Trophy winner, the number one pick, like all year you still hear about Josh Allen and you hear about Patrick Mahomes.

27:50You don't hear as much about Burrow. He's showing up and he's reminding people like, oh, yeah, we forgot about talking about this guy.