“Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
Such is the motto for Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, whose life and career as a professional football player has come to redefine the word “tough.”
He comes from a working-class family and has an auto mechanic father. He went to school at a mid-major where he played quarterback, not receiver. He had to wait until the 232nd pick of the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft to hear his name get finally called.
Nothing about Edelman’s ascension into becoming one of the most recognizable names and faces in sports today was glamorous.