On Monday, the Patriots announced wide receiver Julian Edelman will be inducted into their team hall of fame later this year.
Edelman’s selection comes via fan voting, which opened last month shortly after the team announced their three finalists for this year - Edelman, placekicker Adam Vinatieri and guard Logan Mankins.
While much of the discussion from local media around this year’s voting suggested that Vinatieri should be the leader of the pack for this year’s red jacket after being snubbed from a gold jacket in February, the fans felt differently.
Instead of his former kicker joining him on the stage later this year, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells will instead be joined by the greatest postseason wideout in Patriots history, as the two of them will comprise this year’s class at 1 Patriot Place.
Edelman is a three-time Super Bowl champion, who spent his entire 12-year career with the Patriots from 2009 to 2020. After spending the bulk of the early part of his career as a fill-in-where needed guy, with a memorable stint playing defensive back on the 2011 team that lost in the Super Bowl, Edelman eventually settled in as one of Tom Brady’s most reliable targets.
Edelman is second in team history with 620 receptions, fourth with 6,822 receiving yards, fourth with 9,869 all-purpose and ninth with 36 receiving touchdowns. When it comes to postseason success, Edelman is among the most elite performers in league history, ranking third in NFL history with 118 postseason receptions behind Travis Kelce (178) and Jerry Rice (151). He is one of 17 NFL players with at least 1,000 career postseason yards and his 1,442 postseason receiving yards are third all-time, behind Rice (2,245) and Kelce (2,078).
In addition to the postseason numbers, Edelman has some of the greatest individual postseason moments in league history to his name, including an improbable catch that was crucial in the comeback win against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, a Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in Super Bowl LIII against the Rams, and being on the passing end of a trick play touchdown to Danny Amendola that helped secure a comeback victory against the Ravens in the 2014 AFC Divisional Round at Gillette Stadium.
It goes without saying that all three of this year’s finalists are more than deserving of a red jacket, and will eventually receive that distinction down the line. But for 2025, only Edelman will join Parcells as the 37th member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
Here’s a complete list of every player and contributor inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame:
1991 - John Hannah
1992 - Nick Buoniconti
1992 - Gino Cappelletti
1993 - Bob Dee
1993 - Jim Lee Hunt
1993 - Steve Nelson
1993 - Vito “Babe” Parilli
1994 - Mike Haynes
1995 - Steve Grogan
1999 - Andre Tippett
2001 - Bruce Armstrong
2007 - Stanley Morgan
2008 - Ben Coates
2009 - Jim Nance
2009 - William H. “Billy” Sullivan, Jr.
2010 - Sam Cunningham
2011 - Drew Bledsoe
2011 - Jon Morris
2012 - Troy Brown
2013 - Tedy Bruschi
2013 - Gil Santos
2014 - Ty Law
2015 - Houston Antwine
2015 - Willie McGinest
2016 - Kevin Faulk
2017 - Raymond Clayborn
2018 - Matt Light
2019 - Leon Gray
2019 - Rodney Harrison
2020 - Richard Seymour
2021 - Tracy Sormanti
2022 - Vince Wilfork
2023 - Dante Scarnecchia
2023 - Mike Vrabel
2024 - Tom Brady
2025 - Bill Parcells
2025 - Julian Edelman
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