Imagine if Rocky Balboa and Jason Bourne had a love child who decided to play football—that’s Julian Edelman for you. This guy didn’t just break the mold; he shattered it, danced on the pieces, and then used them as part of his workout routine. I mean, c’mon guys, Edelman literally went from a college quarterback who wasn’t even invited to the NFL Combine to Super Bowl MVP. H0w?

By outworking everyone in ways that sound pretty insane. Trust me, his training method included some hilarious stuff that no one could even think about. And no one knows it better than the former Patriots wide receiver Brandon Bolden. Last week, Bolden appeared on episode 252 of Raw Room where he revealed that Edelman would train by balancing on a balance ball and catching a deck of cards that were thrown at him.

First, Bolden went straight-up and talked about the wildest training methods Edelman would bring out. Then, he zeroed in on one of Edelman’s favorites. “The crazy thing about that motherf***er right there, he’d come up with the wildest s**t. Like, he’d make catches like that because he practiced catches like that, if that makes sense. Bro, he’d get one of the big balance balls, on your knees, and they’d throw a deck of cards at him. He’d catch cards,” Bolden said.

Picture this: you’ve a TE standing tall at 6’6” and weighing over 250 pounds named Rob Gronkowski on your roster. And when it comes to training to shine on the field, he’s outworked by a 5’10” wide receiver. That was Julian Edelman on the Patriots receiving corps. One of the reasons why Edelman was the heartbeat of the Patriots’ wide receiver room. His way of training? Let’s hear it from Bolden.

“He got a bucket of tennis balls and he got a deck of cards in his pocket,” Bolden continued. “So, then he’ll toss tennis balls to the side and then once they get ‘bout 10 tennis balls, they gon’ put all out a card — and he’d catch it. So, when I say I’ve seen him do s**t like that, I mean that! He really do s**t like that!” Hmm! Considering his training methods, it’s pretty much clear why Edelman was able to snatch some of the best passes.

Remember the Super Bowl LI? Yeah, one of the biggest comebacks in Super Bowl history. The New England team was trailing 28-20 and Edelman somehow plucked a tipped pass barely an inch off the turf, all while getting swarmed by three Falcons defenders. Go on, have a look at it one more time. Because even in slow-mo, it doesn’t make sense how he pulled it off.

Bet one would pay him to watch that again. But the thing is, the guy is now retired and we just can’t enjoy his insane catches anymore. However, someone’s making some spicy headlines about breaking his retirement.

Julian Edelman tried his best to bring Gronk on the gridiron again

A few days ago, it almost seemed like Gronk might not stay away from the gridiron anymore. For the past few days, there have been speculations that one of the best tight ends of the league is returning to the NFL. Once Again! If any team wants to sign Gronk, the 35-year-old TE would come with 621 receptions for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns. And Julian Edelman tried his best to make that possible.

Recently, Edelman and Gronk were on the Dudes on Dudes podcast where the former WR playfully tried to convince the former TE to return. In fact, Edelman literally pointed out a plan. “Rob at 35 is still better than 60 percent of the TEs. But you would have to train for two weeks,” Edelman said.

“I think you can get 11 plays a game. We give you three in the red area. We’re talking early season. We’re not going to throw you out for 69 plays. We’ll give you 11 plays. Build your confidence and once it hits November and December, that’s when we start kicking it up.” To his response, Gronk joked about making Edelman his agent. “That’s what I’m talking about,” Gronkowski replied. “I’m going to have you as my agent, Jules, when I do make this comeback.”

However, even after Julian Edelman’s attempt to bring Gronk back for another season, the ex-TE remained adhered to his decision. Sure, there are certain rumors about his NFL comeback, but the truth is, Rob Gronkowski is not returning to play this time.