The Journey of Julien

Julien Edelman's journey through his rookie NFL season has been remarkable. As a 7th round pick, he fought his way onto the roster. What made it so remarkable was that he converted from being a quarterback to wide receiver and return specialist.

He has often been compared to Wes Welker. Both play the slot receiver. When Welker sat out the Jets game in week 2, Edeleman caught 8 balls for 83 yards. Not a bad way to start a career.

Both Welker and Edeleman came unheralded from college. Welker made his NFL debut as an undrafted free-agent and Edeleman as the 232nd pick.

Edelman had a stellar high school career at Woodside High in California. He lead his team to a 13-0 record with 2,237 yards passing, 29 passing TD's , 964 yards rushing and scoring 13 TD's with the ball.

In spite of these numbers, he had no scholarship offers from Division 1 colleges. He enrolled at San Mateo Community College located in the hometown of Tom Brady. He lead the team to an 8-3 record and a #9 national ranking for junior colleges.

He was scouted by a coach from Kent State and received a scholarship offer. He started for the next three seasons as a Tim Tebow clone. During that time, he threw 30 TD passes and ran for 22 TD's. His 1,370 yards of rushing as a senior placed him 15th in Division 1, although he was a QB.

He caught the attention of the Pats and other teams. The Pats lead the charge by sending several coaches to scout him and meet with him personally. As with Brady, he lasted until the 2nd day of the draft. Brady was chosen 199th overall while Edeleman lasted until the 232nd pick.

When he arrived at training camp, the transition to WR and return specialist began. Coach Belichick has often cited his running ability as the reason for the switch. In a dire situation, either WR Isiah Stanback or Edeleman would be the emergency 3rd QB.

Against the Ravens, he will have the opportunity to play in the biggest game of his career with the playoff fortunes for both teams on the line.