Longtime rivals Peyton Manning and Julian Edelman agreed on one thing: They’re glad Manning stole Tom Brady’s favorite receiver back in 2013.
When Julian Edelman was drafted to the New England Patriots in 2009, Tom Brady was still in the midst of a heated rivalry with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
The Manning-Brady rivalry dominated the 2000s, with analysts debating who was the most talented between the three-time Super Bowl champion and the Lombardi winner after the 2006 season. Overall, Brady has an advantage over Manning in the regular and post-season games combined (11- 6), but Manning has the edge when it comes to post-season wins (3-2).
Although Brady has silenced the Goat controversy, Manning has that advantage in the postseason. And one of those gains – the Asian Championship 2013 Which gave Manning the edge – it was in part because Manning stole Brady’s favorite receiver at the time.
And because he did, it provided an opportunity for Patriots legend Julian Edelman to become a part of Patriots history.
Peyton Manning and Julian Edelman remain thankful that the Broncos stole Wes Welker from Tom Brady
Manning joined forces with Edelman and Sam Morril on the latest episode of the “Games With Names” podcast to rehash the 2013 season opening between the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos.
This began the season the Broncos went to the Super Bowl, where they were eventually brought down by young Russell Wilson and the Boom Legion.
In the podcast, Manning went into detail about how he had mastered getting Welker out of Foxborough to come and play at Empower Field at Mile High (Starts at 36:40).
“You know, it’s funny. When you go down in the first game to a new receiver, you kind of think about all the things that happened before that. I remember being in Miami, playing golf with Dan Marino of all people. And I say, ‘Must To get through this hole, Dan.” I called Wes Welker and went into college recruiting mode just like I came back to Tennessee.
I felt like I had such a good track record as a recruitment host, well, I was pretty close. I went into this mode with Wes Welker, he was an average of five, and he gave me plenty of time to give him everything [of] my tacky pitch lines and I sealed the deal.”
Since Manning lured Welker to play for the Broncos, this provided an opportunity to get Edelman more involved in the Patriots’ attack. During his first few years with the Patriots, Edelman was mainly returning to special teams. In fact, when Edelman made an amazing comeback in his rookie season, Patriots coach Bill Belichick expected Welker to become Wally Pep.
“Have you heard of Wally Pep before? Have you never heard of him before? Well, he played first base before Lou Gehrig,” Belichick joked with a wry smile. “This may be the story of Punt’s return.”
“Hey, he can have it!” Welker laughed.
“A way to compete,” Belichick said sarcastically, and it turns out Edelman would inherit the role. By the time 2013 started, Edelman had just finished his rookie contract and was enjoying offers from other NFL teams, including the New York Giants.
He signed a one-year contract to stay at Foxboro, while the Patriots signed Danny Amendola with the intent that he would take over after Welker. Although Amendola was a clutch receiver who spent four years in New England, Edelman stole the show during the 2013 season and became the Patriots’ next wide receiver.
As fate would have it, it was Edelman who grabbed nine times for 110 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive comeback in Week 12 against the Denver Broncos. Edelman thanks Manning for that (Starts at 36:16).
“Now, that Wes Welker has been stolen from [the Patriots] – Which, thank you, I appreciate. You gave me my chance with [the] Drama Aaron Hernandez. You know when men leave, it gives opportunity to other people.”
Brady may be the reason why Jules won three Super Bowls and one Super Bowl MVP, but it turns out Edelman has a Brady rival to thank for getting him an ample opportunity to become a Patriots legend.
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