Thinking out loud…while wondering if you're not a Hall of Famer today, and you're not playing any longer, how do you become one in a few years?
• What I'm sure of: It's not possible to fully appreciate what Julian Edelman brought to the New England Patriots, or to the NFL, during his 12-year career – especially now that he's decided to end that career.
• He's been unbelievable in so many instances. Memorable plays. He has embodied toughness, grit, guts, and courage; he has further defined the position of 'slot' receiver, he is very much a self-made football professional who has placed himself on the precipice of historical significance, especially when you consider where he started his career and how he ended it.
• Jules is simply a great story. Period. But does that matter?
• What I'm not sure of: Julian Edelman is a National Football League Hall-of-Famer. If he isn't, is it because he's short, didn't have big career numbers, not physically imposing in stature and may be remembered for his injuries and grittiness as much as he's recalled for his spectacular catches?
• He doesn't have the career numbers compared to others that might qualify him – 75th in receptions, 156th in receiving yards, 261st in catching touchdowns.
• But there is no denying his worth to the Patriots' team and franchise. Invaluable. Hard to quantify. Robert Kraft said as much this week, and so did Bill Belichick. A true fan favorite if there ever was one, because even casual fans can appreciate how tough it is to take the licks he took and keep on ticking like your grandfathers' wristwatch.
• But I also understand the nay-sayers, that he's not comparable to the greats of all time. He also wasn't the type of receiver that many of the game's greats were…so his numbers would never approach those.
• Paul Warfield. Lynn Swann. James Lofton. Raymond Berry. Art Monk. Lance Alworth. Don Maynard. Michael Irvin. Jerry Rice. Or from closer to this era – Randy Moss? Larry Fitzgerald?
• Edelman isn't those guys. But he was never supposed to be those guys.
• He never made all-Pro, only reached one Pro Bowl. And…most who can't see Edelman as an all time great are undoubtedly fans of other teams – rivals, even.
• But what is his VALUE to one of the iconic teams and franchises of all time – the Patriots? In that sense, he very much is Hall-of-Fame caliber, even if his physical stature and statistical history don't add up in your book.
• The numbers that speak louder from this perspective, as someone who has seen him play every snap of his career? 118 receptions, 1523 yards in the postseason…playing big in the big games – and statistically behind only the great Jerry Rice. He was also a Super Bowl MVP.
• And if you go by big numbers in games that have real "meaning," or playing well in big games…yes, Giant fans…that probably means Eli Manning is also a Hall-of-Famer.
• Damn. There, I said it.
• At least Jules has him beat in Super Bowl rings. Maybe that's the deciding factor of "Hall or no Hall?
• Hall of Fame? Maybe, but doubtful. Legendary New Englander? Definitely. Let's stick with that and see if we feel differently in another five years.
• Absence does make the heart grow fonder, ya' know. Just sayin'.
• Happy birthday, Coach Belichick. A robust age 69 this week. Talk about taking a licking and keeping on ticking like that Timex watch…
• I seem to recall a discussion not long ago that had BB out the door by the time he reached 70. Maybe ex-Bills' coach Marv Levy retiring at 70 had something to do with that…but he's gonna blow right by that, it would appear.
• If anything, both he and TB12 are experiencing a renaissance, if you will, as both approach the inevitability of Father Time catching up to them. Gotta be pumped and jacked to re-create a playoff-caliber team after this off-season haul, amiright?
• Sorry, Pete Carroll. Didn't mean to steal your coaches' encouragement there. But you get the idea.
• I have yet to join the Kellen Mond fan club. Not sure I will have to, either.
• Maybe I'm late to the party on this – but Aaron Rodgers is better quarterbacking the Packers than he is quarterbacking Jeopardy.
• Some of the Patriots are joining in on next week's 'boycott' of the start of NFL OTA's? Don't get your undershorts in a bind.
• First, it's optional. There may be legitimate Covid concerns in some places – like in Denver and Detroit – so if virtual is an option, virtual it will be for some. Others will be doing what they do already at the stadium.
• Tampa Bay, like everyone else, did it virtually last year and won the Super Bowl, so…
• The guess here is that protocols get worked out by the time on-field practices are allowed next month. May 17th is when things should roll. Hopefully.
• What I don't get – is the apparent reluctance by a majority of NFL players to NOT be vaccinated, after getting through what they got through last season. And what the rest of us are going through now. One too many blows to La Cabeza, fellas?
• Like the idea of an XFL-CFL merger. If the XFL gets off the ground to play again.
Who else around here would be interested in the Canadian league without it?
• This is how the Patriots worked their way into the NFL more than half a century ago…
when the upstart AFL managed a merger with the stodgy, established NFL. But short of a merger, interleague play between the two suddenly gains new meaning, and a championship between the two?
• Gotta think The Rock (who owns the XFL) would approve. He knows his role.
• Two zen questions: 1) How does an officer not know the difference between a gun and a taser, and 2) are some police stark-raving mad in Minnesota? Don't @ me on this.
• There's something very New England about the Red Sox' coldest game since 1979 (at Minnesota) being the one that vaulted the team into the best record in the AL this week…winners of nine straight overall, before the defending AL Central champs finally won one.
• Boston is the first team since the '05 Mets to lose their first three to start the year, then win at least six in a row. And the Sox are the first team in MLB history to lose three to start and win nine or more thereafter.
• That Mets team? Finished 83-79 and out of the postseason.
• With about a tenth of the season completed, you can say there may be some balance to the pitching, but no real ace…and no dominant arm in the pen. But Matt Barnes' sudden dominance and aggressiveness is an attention-getter, for sure.
• Less nibbling + more challenging the hitters = more success for Barnes. So far.
• And they may need DJ Martinez' bat to carry them over the long haul, like David Ortiz used to do. But it's hard to argue with his start. Dugout iPad's for everyone!
• And is it fair to say the real MVP of this start isn't a P (player) after all…but an "M?" Do the Sox do what they've done without manager Alex Cora's dugout voodoo?
• Was he safe or out? You do know what game I'm referring to, and what all of Twitter referred to this week, yes? I thought out at first – and I still think it.
• My buddy "Big E" sez he was out recently, taking his first plane trip in what seemed like forever. And he sat down next to a woman who had – in his words – a 'giant' diamond on her left-hand ring finger.
• "This is the Rothschild diamond," she explained, after she caught his stare. "It is beautiful, isn't it? But there's a curse that comes with it." "Big E" played along. "Ok, what's the curse?"
• She replied, "Mr. Rothschild."
• If he isn't already, ex-Georgetown guard Mac McClung – who originally committed to Rutgers but never signed – should be the poster child for the current plague upon college basketball: AADD. Athlete Attention Deficit Disorder.
• He's in the transfer portal again, leaving Texas Tech. And looking for a fourth school to play for in four years…the very definition of a collegiate 'gun for hire.'
• Move Villanova to the top of the pile. Both Collin Gillespie – the reigning co-Big East Player of the Year – and Jermaine Samuels are returning for their "super senior" seasons on the Main Line. Which also puts the Wildcats back into the national discussion for next year.
• They were an also-ran for what, a week?
• Hey, this is just the first change of many over the next few months: 1) Villanova 2) Creighton 3) Xavier 4) Marquette 5) Providence 6) UConn 7) Seton Hall 8) Butler 9) St. John's 10) Georgetown 11) DePaul.
• Coming…and going…Cumberland's Tyler Kolek has decided upon Marquette for his landing spot, and four-star guard Emarion Ellis originally committed to Shaka Smart at Texas – but he's now following his coach to Marquette.
• And big man Theo John has decided to leave Milwaukee and has entered the transfer portal, while 6-11 Iowa center Jack Nunge will move to Cincinnati and play for Xavier.
• UConn's Tyler Polley sez he'll come back to Storrs for a fifth season, but only if the pros don't work out right away.
• Did you see where one time DePaul (and Illinois) guard Jalen Coleman-Lands will be playing his 7th year of college basketball next season? He played at Iowa State last year and has entered the transfer portal for what would be a seventh year of eligibility…including an actual redshirt year and a medical redshirt, in addition to the NCAA-allowed Covid season.
• No truth to the rumor he has any relation to John "Bluto" Blutarski…a power forward of some renown at nearby Faber College.
• St. John's may have lost a lot, but they're going to gain size on the front line for next season – starting with 6-11 Fordham transfer Joel Soriano.
• ICYWW…the portal is now at 1400+ names and counting, almost double the previous record high for a single year. The 21st century definition of the 'wild, wild west.'
• Or in other words, collegiate free agency.
• The American Athletic Conference eliminated their intraconference transfer policy this week, joining the ACC and MAC as FBS leagues making the move to align with the new NCAA policy. Note the mention of "FBS."
• The Big East still has the rule in place, as basketball players cannot transfer to another league school. But for how much longer?
• Not a fan of it, but certainly understand the move. The NCAA Division I Council has approved the new uniform transfer legislation, allowing undergraduate athletes in all sports to move freely one time without having to sit out a year. Like their coaches can.
• So, collegiate Free Agency is finally here. Officially. And it could end up being a real kick-in-the-teeth for coaches, administrators, and some athletes, too. Also, a notification date for athletes to announce their intentions – May 1st for fall and winter sports, July 1st for spring sports.
• And the recruiting "dead" period is finally over…which means starting June 1st, coaches can again recruit in-person on and off campus, hold camps on campus and host recruiting visits.
• I guess Providence and Sacred Heart are a thing now. Reportedly, the Pioneers are once again on the Friars' non-league schedule for next season…ostensibly at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
• One of the potential new hoop rules for next year – six fouls, max of three per half. If you get four fouls in a half, you're out. There's a part of me that feels like that could be good for a physical league like the Big East.
• And another part of me remembers the disaster that six fouls brought to the game 30 years ago. A lot of grabbing, bumping, clutching, clubbing. It was wrestling and rugby on the hardwood. Not sure that's a direction the game should go.
• But is the game too fast and too physical today…to stay at five? For some officials, it is…right Sonar?
• Former UConn star and head coach Kevin Ollie is back to work after his dismissal from the school three years ago – hired this week as Director of Player Development and Head Coach for the Overtime Elite. That's the new pro hoop league for 16-to-18-year-old prospects who don't want the typical college route.
• In other words…show 'em the money, now. The plan is to offer six-figure financial packages and a tutoring component so they can compete for top players against prep schools and international teams.
• Speaking of UConn, longtime women's assistant (13 years) and former star player Shea Ralph was hired at Vanderbilt as their new head coach this week. Geno's coaching tree now has branches…and potential new roots down the line.
• Can UMass finally get a little love? An athletic afterthought for many – largely due to their proximity to the Hub in Boston from the boonies of Amherst – the natty won by men's hockey last week was a thing of beauty to watch.
• Not just because of the 5-0 whitewash over St. Cloud State to win it…but also because of the adversity overcome along the way with Covid issues creeping up. This team looked like it took the phrase 'next man up' to heart.
• And took it personally…with goaltender Filip Lindberg making his way back to the ice for the title game from contact tracing protocols.
• Kept hearing from various media types it was UMass' first national title. No, no, no, no, no. Clarification needed, please. In hockey, yes. But did we forget the then I-AA (now FCS) natty in football from 1998? C'mon man.
• Tweet of the Week I, from @collegehockey: "As good as the "hockey" is in college hockey – the "college" is even better. 92% of college hockey players earn their degree." #studentathletes
• Big ups to PC's two Big East swim champs, Justin Viotto and Kevin Hood, for claiming individual titles at the Big East Championships last week – and to the staff led by Coach John O'Neill, claiming the Big East Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year.
• ICYMI, the Providence Performing Arts Center is back in action…in October. A good sign, perhaps, that recovery is real. But the rest of downtown (including the Convention Center and the Dunk) needs to follow suit – with their own plans for reopening.
• Tweet of the Week II, from @RealAlexBarth: "The NFL record for career completion % is at 67.8%. Tom Brady has made the conference championship 73.7% of the seasons he's been the primary starter. Statistically, it's more likely Tom Brady makes the conf. championship than any QB (including Tom Brady) completes any given pass."
• Wait, wut?
• Move over, LeBron. ARod now owns a piece of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wonder if he'll have a hand in teaching the guards how to slap at the ball?
• While Jayson Tatum was the Eastern Conference POTW…it's still troubling he needs an inhaler to help him breathe as he fights Covid after-effects.
• Quick, without cheating…what was it the Bruins got by the trade deadline this week?
• You had to think about it, didn't you? Or did you not even know about it?
• Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters, a first for a Japanese golfer, but bogeyed three of his last four holes as he crawled to the finish line with a big lead. Part of the reason why the Masters had its' worst TV ratings in nearly 30 years…there wasn't much suspense.
• Sign of the Times in Which We Live: Real Madrid is building a casino into its new stadium. The PGA Tour is adding a sportsbook to its' TPC Scottsdale course. And the NFL has added three 'official sports betting' partners.
• The power of professional 'rasslin' is still as strong as ever. Wrestlemania moved to a two-night extravaganza this year, and also moved to NBC's streaming service, Peacock. Peacock registered its' largest single-day spike in new subs last Saturday…and WWE content was up 14% from last year across all social media.
• Did you see where a pro bowler picked up a 7-10 split on live TV last week? It was only the fourth time that's ever happened. 18-year-old Anthony Neuer did it during the US Open…even though he eventually lost his match.
• Not for nuthin', but my life has been full of 7-10 splits. You?
Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? It's your chance to "think out loud," so send your questions, comments and local stories to jrooke@weei.com. We'll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Would appreciate the follow on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and join in on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
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