Julian Edelman says he could "probably" play football this year, depending on situation
BOSTON -- Sound the comeback alarms. Julian Edelman might be getting the itch to play football.
The retired Patriots receiver has been a football spectator since his retirement last summer, which came after a knee injury shortened his 2020 season. Now, though, the 36-year-old is finally feeling good, and that has him thinking he is capable of playing football this season.
As a guest on the Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday, Edelman was asked if he could play this year.
"Um, you know, I'll tell you right now, if I had three weeks -- three, maybe four weeks. You know, start of the season, absolutely not. But if there's a team vying for a playoff run, guy goes down, could I get ready? I mean, I probably could," Edelman said.
Eisen then asked the pertinent question: Does Edelman want to play this year?
"I mean, that depends on the situation at that time," he said, before embarking on a self-promoting marketing blitz. "You know, right now I'm looking forward to 'Games With Names.' We're about to launch this unbelievable podcast. I've got 'Inside The NFL,' streaming on Paramount+ of course. So I've got that coming."
Edelman then answered the question more seriously.
"You can never say never," he stated. "But I'm excited for the opportunities I have coming on my plate right now. If any of those situations ever come up, I mean, of course you've got to take a look at them."
Earlier in the conversation, Edelman spoke at length about what he misses about the game.
"I do. I miss it more this year than I did last year," he said. "I miss waking up in August, going to the field, smelling the fresh-cut grass, seeing the sprinklers just finished, seeing our equipment guys setting all the stuff out, the locker room, the fellas, the competition. And now being in my second year out, I can actually miss it. Because last year, it was still ingrained in my head, that last year was rough. Football is not fun when you feel like s---, or crap. I've been doing so many podcasts, I apologize."
Edelman continued: "This is my first year my body's felt kind of pretty good, and that's when you start to go back into the mindset of when the game was at its easiest for you, when you were in your best physical shape and it cross-paired with your smarts of the game, and that's when you miss it, when you can go out and compete at a high level consistently."
Edelman caught 21 passes for 315 yards in just six games in 2020. The year prior, he had one of the best seasons of his career, catching 100 passes for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns in 2019, Tom Brady's final season in New England.