Cam Newton is a firm believer in the "Patriot Way," and that's largely because of Julian Edelman.
Last season, Edelman was the key holdover for a Patriots team very much in transition with Tom Brady gone. And the wideout, who since has retired, made sure that despite the changing of the guard, the Patriots continued to hold themselves to a certain standard.
When Newton arrived, he, like many -- even Bill Belichick -- was skeptical of the belief that the "Patriot Way" is a thing. But after getting to know Edelman, he was all in on the concept.
"It's really a thing," Newton said in a video posted to Instagram. "And I walked in here thinking 'Man, work is work. I work.' This was when Jules was still on the team and he just was like, 'This is how it is. Hey bubs, I'm telling you just like this: Be ready to (expletive) work. Let's (expletive) go, let's go.' That was just him, he was always wired.
"I think I fell in love with Jules and his mentality. Jules was that guy, that individual that people looked to, I know I looked to that said, 'Hey bro, this is how we do it. This is what needs to be done. I'm not going to say how things used to be, but if you're going to come here, you have to have this warrior's mentality. And it's not all physical, and that's what people forget. It's not all physical, it's mental too."
The Patriots underwent even more change this past offseason, overhauling the roster and adding heaps of fresh faces. Edelman is gone, and while longtime Patriots like Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater and Dont'a Hightower still are around to keep the structure together, it sounds like Newton himself is interested in making sure the "Patriot Way" continues to be a thing.
Whatever it means.
