Julian Edelman On Tom Brady: 'Just One Of The Dudes'

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman appeared on the newest edition of Off The Board with Jimmy Traina. The injured superstar not only described how it's been to be sidelined for the season, but he shed light on what it's like to be around Tom Brady and Bill Belichick on a regular basis. Edeleman, who is working with Spotify, also talked about his favorite music, his love of hamburgers, his favorite wrestling maneuvers and much more. Here are some highlights:

On what Tom Brady is really like:

"People don’t realize, he’s portrayed as, like, a God, but he’s really just one of the dudes who shoots the shit. He’s got his little banter and he’s got his little witty jokes that he has here and there. He’s a fun guy to be around. You love going to work and hanging around those types of guys because it makes the work environment, which is a stressful environment -- it’s like going to school all day in classes and then practice. In between those lunch breaks and those hall walks, like back in the day, or when you go to the bathroom, there’s a little banter here and there and he’s always good at giving it and receiving it."

On who is better at social media, him or Brady:

"He’s got some good stuff, but I think I’m kind of the innovator of a lot of those things. If we go back and check the dates, who's been around a little longer on the social… but Tommy is funny. He’s got some good stuff out there, he’s embracing more and more and it’s always cool to see that because he’s enjoying it. "​

On whether Bill Belichick is a guy players can joke around with:

"Nah. It’s not a happy-go-lucky environment there. I have fun outside the game. But right now, if you’re in this part of the season, it’s nut-cuttin' time and this is when the real season starts. It’s not fun. It’s business. That’s how Belichick is 24/7, 352 days or whatever, how many, whatever, 365. Yeah, 365, Oh my lord. Maybe we he jokes around after a Super Bowl win. That’s the only time I’ve seen him smile. He smiles here and there, but that’s the real time I’ve actually seen him happy."

On what it's like to watch the Patriots every week:

"It sucks. It’s not fun to watch your team go out, and guys that you’ve worked so hard with and the countless hours you’ve put in on your own time to go and showcase all your hard work and then have it taken form you and then see your boys playing without you. You wanna see your fellas do well, but it sucks because you’re not there and it’s one of those things where you get frustrated like, on something, you’re like, "Man, I could’ve helped them right here," or "I could’ve done something here." Watching the games is painful. I don’t even enjoy football, at least professional football, anymore, because I’m breaking the game down constantly. You’re sitting there watching the plays and you’re talking mental reps on what would I have done here against this coverage or this leverage, this, that. It is what it is."

On wide receivers getting fights with defensive backs:

"Well, we have it instilled in our head, if you get one of those penalties, coach gets really mad and he emphasizes that it hurts the team a significant amount. Now, I’m not saying I’ve never felt that emotion where I wanted to do that and I’m not saying I never got a penalty, because there may have been, I don’t know, I’m not a fact-check guy, but there may have been a headbutt in there after a play. I don’t know, but it’s the heat of battle. Guys are competing and I understand. But you gotta have that composure to not A) hurt your team with a penalty that’s hard to dig out of or B) potentially get kicked out of game or break a hand, out for a few weeks. That’s hurting the team as well. Have I thrown blows in a football game. Not necessarily in the pros. We’ve all done something like that. We all have a couple of screws missing to even play this sport."

On his favorite music:

"I have such a wide-range of stuff. You got your rap with your Drakes and your Hov and your Kanye West and all those types of songs that it’s kind of an 'us against the world' type mentality. And then I also have crazy, epic, euphoria type music that I like to listen to like M-83 Outro, the Friday Night Lights soundtrack. And I also love like Hans Zimmer, I like the Inception soundtrack or the Interstellar soundtrack. With those types of long instrumental-type songs you get to visualize what you’re working for when you’re working. So when I’m working out, I'm actually playing the story in my head though the music."

On this years' touchdown celebrations:

"I’m old-school and I like the old slam it and go on, but some of the stuff is pretty funny and fun to watch and especially with the way the world is going these days, all the other sports are doing it and having fun with it and it’s given the NFL a better look with the younger generation. ... The duck duck goose, the boxing one, the bobsled, they’re really putting some thought in behind this."

On his love of burgers:

"I break it down into three categories. You got your fast-food burger. You got your pub-style burger. Then you have your gourmet burger. Fast food, obviously being a West Coaster, you love In-And-Out. Here on the East Coast, I think Shake Shack is awesome. Those are my fast food go-to's. Because they’re not crazy, crazy bad and they’re still tasty.

On the importance of fries to the burger-and-fries meal:

That’s amateur hour -- fries. A fry is like extra credit. But it’ll never hurt a burger if a burger is good. Like, everyone complains about In-And-Out’s fries, even though I actually like fresh In-And-Out fries. I can understand that. But you're still going to In-And-Out to grab the burger, you’re not going there for the fries."

Wrestling moves:
"I used to love the Stone Cold Stunner. It was essentially the Diamond Cutter, which Diamond Dallas Page did. I always liked doing that one. I always loved the Figure Four because I always used to that to my sister and you can get people to tap out easy. My sister was two years younger than me and I had a brother who was seven years older than me so I used to get beat up by him and then when he wasn’t around, I would do the tricks he would do on me to my sister. ... She’s a tough cookie because of it."

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