New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman announced his retirement at the age of 34.
Interestingly enough the Pro Football Hall of Fame tweeted about it and let Patriots fans and NFL fans in general when his eligibility is. Which got many debating whether Edelman was deserving of being enshrined.
Truthfully this isn’t even a realistic question. There’s nothing Edelman did in his career to warrant being in the hall of fame. Sure he did win a Super Bowl MVP in 2018 it wasn’t a dominating performance. He caught 10 passes for 141 yards. Compare that to when Jerry Rice won his Super Bowl MVP. He caught 11 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown.
When it comes to Super Bowl rankings Edelman is fourth in yardage with 337 and tied for fifth in receptions with 24, yet only caught one touchdown pass.
In the regular season Edelman wasn’t exactly spectacular either. He caught 620 passes for 6,822 yards, averaged 11 yards per reception, and caught 36 touchdowns. His best season came in 2019 when he caught 100 passes for 1,117 yards, averaged 11.2 yards per catch with six touchdowns.
Overall he had two seasons of over 100 receptions and two seasons with over 90. Then he was either injured or didn’t really get the opportunity to produce. In his first four seasons he caught only 69 passes for 714 yards and four touchdowns.
Going further Edelman’s career-high in touchdowns was seven, his highest total yardage was the aforementioned 1,117, receptions 105, and yards per catch 11.5. None of those numbers scream hall of fame.
Also at one point he got suspended for PEDs as well.
When it comes to wide receiver it’s not a premium position that enters the hall. Case in point it took Terrell Owens several years before getting in. If for some reason Edelman gets in there are several players more deserving than him.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame isn’t going to open this can of worms. Simply put Edelman isn’t good enough.