When you know, you know.
And for the beautiful football love story between New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Julian Edelman, his seventh-round pick from the 2009 NFL Draft, that much was true.
The 11-year veteran announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday, shortly after news broke that the Patriots had released him with a failed physical designation.
Naturally, Patriots fans and NFL media alike took to social media to share their favorite plays and anecdotes from Edelman’s career-long tenure in New England. One awesome moment going viral was from his first preseason game as a rookie.
Flash back to 2009, as Edelman is returning a 75-yard punt to score in a game over the Philadelphia Eagles. Thanks to NFL Films footage, we know that after that play, Belichick asked special advisor Ernie Adams for the name of the man who played first base for the New York Yankees before Lou Gehrig.
What transpired next was as savage as it was legendary.
Belichick walks over to Wes Welker on the sideline, the original version of the archetypical, undersized slot receiver that the head coach became notorious for finding out of no where.
“Did you ever hear of Wally Pipp?” Belichick asked Welker.
The receiver hadn’t, but Belichick caught him up to speed on the power hitter who famously missed a game due to a headache and was replaced by Gerhig for 2,130 consecutive games. So basically forever.
“That might be a punt return story,” Belichick teased Welker, probably knowing then what we all know now, seeing how things played out for Edelman with the Patriots.
Check out the entire video:
Now these moments officially are nostalgia.
