A Review of '100% Julian Edelman'
Over the weekend, the Julian Edelman produced Julian Edelman documentary “100% Julian Edelman” dropped on Showtime. And to me, possibly the most interesting aspect of it so far has been the reaction of much of the Boston sports media, especially the two sports radio stations, both last week before the premiere and this morning now that most people have seen it. I’m not talking about people who didn’t like it for one reason or another. Who think the show left some things out or glossed over some stuff they’d like to see more of. I’m talking about the widespread opinion that there’s no reason anyone would want to see a Julian Edelman documentary at all.
Right. Why would anyone care about this? A 5-foot-11 Jewish quarterback who had to go to a Community College just to get to Kent State, gets drafted in the 7th round by the sports greatest dynasty, converts to wide receiver, turns himself into the most accomplished wideout in franchise history, dates lingerie models, presents at award shows, guests on Ellen and Steven Colbert, wins three Super Bowls and tears an ACL, gets popped for PEDs, is suspended, comes back and wins the Super Bowl MVP, all in the span of about 18 months.


I mean, who isn’t sick of that old trope by now?
Call me a shameless Pats homer, and I’ll say you sound like you’ve been paying attention all this time. So I can’t pretend to be unbiased when it comes to Edelman. But I think that even if I was, say, an Arizona Cardinals fan, I’d still think Edelman is one of the most compelling athletes of our times. A funny, articulate, handsome-as-hell overachiever who’s made some of the most clutch plays in any sport in the 2010s and who also happens to be a genius at self-promotion. And “100% Julian Edelman” is proof of that.
One of the concerns of the “Why Would Anyone Watch This?” crowd was the speculation he’d try to use this to polish the turd that was him running afoul of the NFL’s Piss Patrol. He does nothing of the sort. In fact, it’s pretty much the Bad Thing Happening that every great story needs to have at the beginning of its Act II. Presented by having no less than Snoop Dogg reading the letter Edelman got from the league explaining the suspension. It’s a clever way of handling it. But at no point does Edelman make excuses or fail to own up to the fact he fucked up.
But the PED violation affected no one like it does the breakout performer of the show, Minitron’s father, Frank Edelman.
I think like most Pats fans, my knowledge of Frank has been pretty much limited to seeing this middle aged guy on the field after big T-Shirt and Hat wins, wearing a Pats No. 11 jersey who looks like Julian if he went back in time to the 1940s to marry his old flame and showed up on a park bench in the 2020s to give his vibranium shield to his friend. But he’s the star of the documentary, no question about it. Frank is the living embodiment of the Hardass Sports Dad cliche, who coached his kid in everything, drove everyone insane, pushed to the point it was “abusive” – Julian’s word, not mine – but who made his son the success he is. You could do a whole documentary just about complex father/son thing going on between the two of them. The crux of it being how they went from talking every day to Julian calling Frank to say he was getting suspended for PEDs and Frank ghosting him for 81 straight days. That is until Edelman the Younger calls him to say “Dad, I’m sorry.” It’s a pretty affecting moment. Made more so by the fact this hardo auto repair shop owner living vicariously through his son’s success sits down at the piano and bangs out The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” like a virutoso. If you don’t get goosebumps at a scene like that, sports documentaries simply aren’t your thing.
Basically it plays out like one of the better episodes of “A Football Life,” only with swearing, Thrash Metal, Dave Portnoy and Bill Burr. (Personal note: Apparently when they were looking for Boston based Patriots fans and comics with strong opinions on Julian Edelman, they couldn’t get in touch with me. It’s the only explanation.) I could’ve lived without Michael Rappoport, but his part is blessedly brief. They’ve got the obligatory Mark Wahlberg appearance. Plus Danny Amendola. And a running gag about Tom Brady’s empty chair is played to perfection.
The through line of the story was supposed to just be him working his way back from injury and suspension. And if it had ended as originally planned, with him walking into practice for the first time in 1 1/4 seasons, I honestly don’t know how good the doc would have been. But in the same weird way that the 2004 Red Sox completely rewrote the ending of the Farrelly brothers’ “Fever Pitch,” this one instead gets the bonus ending of Edelman’s triumph, winning the Super Bowl LIII MVP with 10 receptions and 141 yards. If you tried to write a script like that, you’d get rejected by every studio in Hollywood. Even Netflix, who’ll produce anybody’s garbage. But seeing it play out from Edelman’s own perspective, after watching all rehab work he put in and the low point of getting suspended, makes for an incredible emotional payoff.
So instead of wondering why anyone would want to watch this, the better question might be, why wouldn’t you? And why doesn’t every athlete do this? I’m giving “100% Julian Edelman 8 out of 10. Certified Fresh [TM] on Jerry Tomatoes.