Julian Edelman Slams Wes Welker for His Anti-Belichick Rants in 'The Dynasty'

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

I never imagined that we'd be sitting here, almost to the end of March - smack in the middle of Holy Week, no less - still talking about AppleTV's The Dynasty. Honestly, I've written no less than a half dozen posts reacting to this thing that I assumed would be my last words on the subject. But there's no avoiding it. 

The documentary was a massive seismic event underneath what were the dead calm waters of the most successful sports entity of the 21st century. And it's created a tsunami that's made landfall all over the franchise. And the men who built and sustained the titular Dynasty have shared one unanimous reaction to the series: Total resentment for the way their words were edited and the way Bill Belichick was portrayed. So far we've heard from:

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--Devin McCourty

--Rodney Harrison

--Rob Gronkowski

--Even Mr. Kraft, whom a lot of people have accused of being responsible for the negative tone:

All have voiced their displeasure. All agreed that their coach was done dirty. And all have expressed how truly grateful they are to have played for/employed him. And all universally have admitted that without him, there is no Dynasty to make a docuseries about. 

Now adding their names to the list are two future Patriots Hall of Famers who were featured prominently in the show. Matthew Slater joined Julian Edelman's podcast and the subject came up. They start discussing The Dynasty in the third segment, cued up here to the 13:19 mark:

There's a lot here. Virtually all of it echoing what the others said about how responsible Belichick is for their team and individual successes. Slater says there are times you don't like your coach, but you do love him. Edelman talks about how much he hated all the workouts and doing walkthrough after walkthrough. And how he complained about it all the time. But compares it to how much you hate when your parents make you do things you don't want to that are meant to make you into a good person. I highly recommend you give it a few minutes of your time. One, because it's a great conversation. But mostly because they agree with what every Patriots fan (especially me) spent 24 years saying about Belichick. And why we (I) loved him running this team. Because he made certain that week in and week out they'd be more prepared than the opposition. Which is a point Edelman makes. 

All that said though, here's the money shot. Edelman going hard in the paint after Wes Welker's contributions:

“Welker’s out here saying like Aaron Hernandez got away with murder - figurately speaking - at practice. That’s not even true. Welker painted the picture he was like the king, like he got to do anything. I remember Bill 'motherfuck'-ing Aaron all the time. Come on, Welk! Trying to make up stories. We know you don’t like Bill.” 

Then a visibly uncomfortable Slater laughs and says to the camera, "Wes, I'm not saying anything! I'm just sitting here sipping my water." 

To which Edelman replies, "I love him, too. But you could clearly tell he hates Bill." 

Giphy Images.

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Of all the lowdown, dirty, rotten, scandalous, borderline libelous shit talking that was done in this thing, nothing was more egregious than the way it was suggested Belichick enabled Hernandez.  They did an entire episode of a 10-part series just on Hernandez. And the way Belichick was portrayed was an outrage. If any casual observer who knew nothing about the Patriots of the 2000s was just learning this story for the first time, they'd wonder why a grand jury isn't being convened right now to indict him on charges of accessory to murder. 

Welker painted a picture of Murdnandez basically treating his coach like a doormat. Openly defying him. Disrespecting him. Bitching at him constantly. While Belichick just looked the other way. While of course he was busy mercilessly breaking the balls of everyone else, especially Tom Brady. It made the most disciplined, demanding head coach of the modern era sound like the oblivious mom of that piece of shit little monster in Bill Burr's Old Dads:

For those of us who weren't at those practices, but who nevertheless were calling bullshit on the way this was all being presented in the The Dynasty, it's great to hear this from two players who were. 

Personally, I don't have a grudge against Welker. I have have no doubt he does hate Bill. Specifically GM Bill who franchised him before letting him walk and Wally Pipping him with Edelman, who was younger and much, much cheaper:

Because for all any of us know, the other shoe will drop and Welker himself will disavow the way his comments where edited. All we do know is that with each passing day, this series looks more and more like the disgrace we all thought it was.