Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski reunited on Ryen Russillo’s podcast, but the conversation wasn’t centered around their New England Patriots days. Instead, it was about those superheroes that were lost in the pages of time. On that note, the trio started talking about Mike Vick and his impact on the league. But Mike Vick is a celebrated QB and not a forgotten hero. So, who were the ex-Patriots duo talking about?

Well, it was the 4x Pro Bowler, Alge Crumpler, who was an ally to Mike Vick for a long time. The fates separated them, but both of them continued to push the limits of the NFL. Michael Vick left the Falcons in 2006 to play for the Eagles and a year later, Crumpler decided it was time for him to find a new home too.

Minitron’s Monday Night escapades

After playing two years with the Titans, Crumpler found himself in Foxborough, playing for Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Julian Edelman. Ryen Russilo brought up Mike Vick and that segued into Gronk recalling Crumpler’s mastery of the “blocking scheme” and his “knowledge of the game.” But then, the former TE transitioned to how Edelman and Crumpler would hang out and partake in some smoking.

Yes, it’s common to watch athletes smoke cigars but Edelman and Crumpler took it to another level. You’ve got to be a cigar connoisseur to hang out in a cigar bar. That’s exactly what the former Pats receiver and the journeyman tight end did every Monday. Well, people can turn a blind eye to risking cancer if you’re winning prime-time Monday Night Football games, right? But check out Gronk’s version of the story.

“I know Alge Crumpler and Julian used to go to the cigar bar back in the day too and smoke a cigar together, which was the most outrageous thing I heard when you told me about that, Julian,” Gronkowski recalled in The Ryen Russilo Podcast. But Edelman was young and wanted to hang out with Alge Crumpler and he had a good reason behind it.

The reason is simple. Edelman used to play Madden back in the day and meeting him was a fanboy moment for the former New England Patriots receiver. He didn’t smoke at the time but would accompany the tight end on Monday and that is how Edelman got into cigars. Somewhere down the line, he gave it a try and of course, his first experience wasn’t a great one. Imagine being 22 and coughing your lungs out. Doesn’t sound great, right?

“I was 22 years old, and we used to go to the Cigar Master in Providence, Rhode Island. Alge used to go there every Monday night to smoke a cigar. I didn’t smoke cigars at all, but I just wanted to hang out with Alge Crumpler because I remember throwing to him in Madden, uh, back in that, like, 2000 Madden with Vic and Alge,” Edelman clarified later saying that it was Crumpler who invited him to tag along.

Before Edelman and Gronk joined the Boston team, Tom Brady had already won three Super Bowls. The Lombardi-winning receiver had a great run for a couple of years, but life threw a curveball at him and years later, he was considering his retirement.

Why did Julian Edelman retire?

Injuries are a part of football and while every athlete is accustomed to them, there comes a time when retirement seems to be the only viable option. For Edelman, though, it wasn’t the pain or the risk of fatality that caused him to consider retirement. It was the frustration that those injuries resulted in. What happens when those injuries debilitate you and you’re not able to perform? Edelman had to think long and hard about this question.

The receiver’s body was riddled with injuries. But the straw that broke his back was when he suffered a Knee Patella Sprain in September 2020. About a month later, things exacerbated. The same injury caused him to miss 10 games because he required surgery. Before that, he had recorded at least 15 instances of other injuries. Things that were effortless to him now took more effort to follow through.

“It wasn’t hard for me because I respect the game too much. When I was turning on the film, I wasn’t looking like me… So, it was one of those things where it was hard, and it hurt. It hurt me mentally. I didn’t start missing it until my body felt good,” Edelman said in a recent installment of his ‘Games With Names‘ podcast.

He played 6 games and pocketed 315 yards and no touchdowns in the 2020 season. That was also the year that Tom Brady decided to move on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He took his buddy Rob Gronkowski with him. The duo won another Super Bowl for Tampa before they decided to hang it up for good.

But things weren’t bad for Edelman either, considering he had won 3 Super Bowls in his career. That’s 3 more Lombardi’s than many other skill position players in the league. It was an era that every New England fan cherished. But it’s crazy to know how a franchise can take a drastic turn with the departure of a few players.