National Football League

Julian Edelman: Bill Belichick played 'Jedi mind tricks' to motivate Tom Brady

Updated Feb. 16, 2024 1:30 p.m. ET

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In a forthcoming documentary about the New England Patriots' 20-year run with quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, Brady himself confirmed for the first time what had been widely speculated and reported — he left the Patriots in 2020 because of his deteriorating relationship with Belichick.

That relationship had been in decline for years, according to several reports, even as Brady and Belichick won the final three of their six Super Bowl rings together between 2014 and 2019. FOX Sports NFL analyst Julian Edelman, who was one of Brady's most trusted wide receivers and closest friends on the Patriots throughout the 2010s, believes Belichick may have intentionally damaged his relationship with Brady in pursuit of winning.

Julian Edelman on Belichick-Brady relationship revelations

"Everyone on that team knew Tom Brady played better pissed off," Edelman told Colin Cowherd on Thursday's edition of "The Herd." "So I don't know if it was some master Jedi mind tricks that Bill was doing, either. I honestly don't. … It was just kind of something that you knew. Tom would fabricate things in his own mind to make himself mad or to come up with motivation. I'm not 100% sure if Bill didn't understand that also."

Still, Edelman said there were "of course" moments where others felt like Belichick went "over the line" with Brady later in the quarterback's career. 

"Tom Brady was in his 15th year, had countless Super Bowls, and [Bill] would get on him, but [Bill] didn't change. That's what he would do every year," Edelman said. "I think, looking back on it, Bill could have handled it a little differently, but I think Bill thought he was doing the right thing."

Brady appeared to win the split between him and Belichick in 2020, going on to win the Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa Bay. The 2020 Patriots, meanwhile, slunk to a 7-9 record behind new quarterback Cam Newton. Still, Edelman, who spent his final NFL season on that 2020 team, said that Belichick treated Newton differently than he treated Brady.

"When Cam came in, he handled Cam differently because maybe that's what he felt Cam needed," Edelman said, "A lot of people have [ideas of who Belichick is] … I think he's pulling strings and playing chess a lot more than people think."

And while Belichick's last few years in New England after Brady left may have been forgettable — the Patriots mutually parted ways with the longtime head coach after a 4-13 2023 season — he was still an integral part of the Patriots' six title-winning teams, including the three that Edelman won.

In fact, Edelman also compared the Chiefs team that just won back-to-back Super Bowl titles with the championship Patriots squads he played on, especially with their respective late-game mentalities.

"It wasn't necessarily the Chiefs making the crazy plays, they just weren't making the mistakes, and you let the opponent make the mistakes," Edelman said. "That's the kind of stuff that happens when you have that effect that the Kansas City Chiefs have. I miss that [from playing]."

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