Instead of dealing with him running through the secondary carving up the defense in six matchups throughout his career, former New England Patriots and playoff hero Julian Edelman was nearly a Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back.
Coming out of Kent State as a dual-threat quarterback who was undersized and didn’t have a great arm ahead of the 2009 NFL Draft, Edelman worked out for a handful of teams as a receiver, cornerback and safety. One of those teams, ironically, was the Steelers under general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin.
Appearing on the New Heights Podcast with Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce Wednesday, Edelman revealed that he worked out with the Steelers ahead of the 2009 draft and thought he was going to be a defensive back for the Black and Gold.
“I got worked out by the Steelers as a DB, a safety,” Edelman tolf the Kelce brothers, according to video via the New Heights YouTube page. “The Patriots…worked me out as a running back, defensive back and wide receiver. They worked me out three times; that was really unheard of. Every other workout though [outside of Steelers and Patriots] was as an athlete.”
Entering the 2009 season, the Steelers were riding high after winning Super Bowl XLIII over the Arizona Cardinals and returned quite a few high-end defensive backs and safeties. The safety tandem of Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu remained intact, while cornerbacks Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend, and William Gay returned.
However, the Steelers lost Bryant McFadden in free agency to the Arizona Cardinals that offseason and were in the market for another versatile defensive back. Ultimately, Pittsburgh drafted Keenan Lewis in the third round and Joe Burnett in the fifth round, adding some bigger, more physical cornerbacks to the room, but there was an interest in Edelman, especially late on Day Three.
The Steelers viewed Edelman as that cornerback/safety combination who happened to be a great athlete and could potentially return kicks after his impressive career at Kent State, throwing for over 2,000 yards and rushing for 1,500 in his final season with the Golden Flashes. But that interest wasn’t enough for Colbert to pull the trigger in the seventh round.
Instead, Pittsburgh grabbed Penn State center and Pittsburgh-area native A.Q. Shipley in the seventh round at No. 226 overall — just six picks ahead of where the Patriots selected Edelman at No. 232. Pittsburgh later added tight end David Johnson in the seventh round at No. 241 overall, missing out on Edelman entirely.
After passing on him late in the draft despite doing their due diligence and working him out, Edelman came back to be a thorn in the side of the Steelers during the regular season and in the playoffs.
In six career regular-season games against the Steelers, Edelman hauled in 34 passes for 341 yards on 48 targets, helping New England go 5-1. In the lone playoff matchup between the two teams in the 2017 AFC Championship Game, Edelman was unguardable, hauling in eight passes for 118 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 36-17 win.
He was a menace then and really dug the knife in far too many times during his career, but it’s even more painful now knowing the Steelers had interest in him and could have had that type of player — albeit at a different position — rather than having to deal with him for nearly a decade. In the end, it all worked out for Edelman though. He landed in New England, became one of the greatest slot receivers and playoff performers at the position the league has ever seen, won three Super Bowls and has a Super Bowl MVP to his name.
Not a bad career.
What could have been, though.
