By Jakob Ball

Published in the Spring 2026 issue of Leviathan

Julian Edelman has long been one of my favorite athletes to watch. His agile, underdog vibe is very appealing to frail, unathletic Jews like me. I like to imagine if I played football, I’d be just like Edelman: dodging the bigger guys, making those crucial receptions, and going the distance for my team. The Patriots’ legendary Brady-Belichick dynasty of 2000-2019 featured many stars, with Edelman among the most memorable. Serving narratively as the stout, bearded sidekick to the older, ‘John Football’-looking quarterback Tom Brady, Edelman scurried his way into the hearts of Patriots fans across the nation, Jew and Goy alike. 

Julian was born in Redwood City, California, to Angie and Frank Edelman. His father is a mechanic who owns an A-1 auto shop in the area, but coached Pop Warner (little league) football on the weekends. Julian describes his father as being hard on him, with “no snivelin” being a sort of unofficial Edelman household motto. Edelman recalls fond memories of butting heads with his father, referring to his childhood self as a “little punk” in interviews. Though Julian was a smaller boy growing up, he always had a passion for the hard knocks of American football, starting early and taking the sport very seriously from the young age of 5. He eventually bulked up to an impressive 5’10 and 200 pounds, but was never a big guy by football standards.

While Edelman played quarterback in college, he knew his QB skills weren’t quite impressive enough to take him to the league in that role. However, his impeccable short-area quickness was a skill in high demand, leading the New England Patriots to draft him in 2009. Edelman’s speed and agility led Belichick to place him in the role of “slot receiver,” running complex and relatively short routes to great effect.

For his first few years in the NFL, Julian struggled; he expected to be cut several times early on, but as he honed his skills and found his footing, he earned the hard-won respect of the legendary quarterback-coach duo of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, the latter of whom he would come to see as a “big brother” figure. His incredible ability to turn on a dime and trip up the enemy defense earned him the nickname “dizzy” among teammates, and his hard work and talent led him to win MVP in the 2019 Super Bowl, making him the first Jew to do so, and still the only one at the time of writing. Edelman retired from the NFL in 2021, and after an accomplished career, the 3-time Superbowl champion was inducted into the Patriots hall of fame.

As much as I would like to embrace all of Julian Edelman’s accomplishments as a win for the Jewish people, his Jewish identity is not as clean-cut as I had initially assumed. In fact, Edelman was not raised Jewish. His parents were both raised Catholic, but were never particularly religious. Earlier in his career, Edelman tended to playfully brush off questions about his identity, calling himself “Jew-ish.” However, it seems the star started to become more comfortable identifying with the faith around the early to mid-2010s. 

Edelman describes having a “Jewish Awakening” later in life. In “A Football Life,” –a docuseries that has covered various football stars and their careers– Edelman describes how he didn’t grow up with a strong Jewish identity, but always knew his last name carried Jewish roots by way of his paternal great-grandfather. As he learned his own family history and became more interested in Jewish history in general, Edelman found “parallels to the story of the Jews to just my journey of life. The underdog, y’know, always having to overcome some sort of adverse situation.” Though Edelman’s Jewish origins are unconventional, his Jewish identity clearly informs his public image.

Edelman has been an outspoken voice against antisemitism. Shortly after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting of 2018, he wore specialized cleats with one shoe featuring the Tree of Life synagogue logo and the other a Star of David paired with the hashtag #StrongerThanHate. On multiple occasions, Edelman has reached out to players who made antisemitic comments. After NBA player Meyers Leonard was fined and suspended for saying an antisemitic slur on a livestream, Edelman typed an open letter to Leonard on Instagram, warning of the dangers of ignorance and inviting the athlete to Shabbat dinner. Edelman has consistently used his platform as one of the few Jewish athletes in the American public eye to combat antisemitism with grace

Edelman has also been a longtime supporter of the state of Israel. During the 2014 NFL season, Edelman met the Israeli ambassador to the United States at the time, Ron Dermer. Edelman describes the diplomat putting a US-Israel pin on the young player’s hat, which he took to be a good luck charm for the rest of the season. Why was the Israeli ambassador hanging out in the New England Patriots locker room? In fact, Dermer was there as a guest of Robert Kraft. Kraft, owner of the Patriots and an outspoken Zionist, took Edelman with him on a tour of Israel in 2019 to accept the Genesis Prize. Described on the Genesis Prize Foundation’s website as a $1M award for prominent Jews who use their platform to defend Israel and the Jewish people, the award must have come as a relief to Kraft’s PR team as the billionaire battled charges of soliciting prostitution at a Florida massage parlor. Edelman was certainly not the first nor the last to receive this treatment, as Kraft has taken several NFL players to the country to date as a part of his Touchdown In Israel initiative. In fact, sending people to Israel is seemingly one of Robert Kraft’s favorite activities, even sending local Boston politicians to the country, with a goal of building “a robust economic relationship between Boston and Israel.”

Beyond trips, Kraft has donated millions to organizations dedicated to supporting Israel. While accepting the Genesis Prize, Kraft pledged $20 million to fighting antisemitism, notably calling out BDS (boycotting, divestment, and sanctioning of Israel) campaigns as a primary target. During the eruption of campus protests against Israel’s campaign in Gaza in 2024, Kraft bought a full-page ad in multiple newspapers calling for a harsher crackdown on the students. “When this ends, these students cannot be pardoned for what they have done. They need to be held accountable in order to send a message to future generations of students”.

Julian Edelman has found himself, consciously or unconsciously, turned into an arm of Kraft’s propaganda wing, increasingly voicing his concerns about antisemitism through defense of the Israeli state. In a conversation with Rabbi Bill Hamilton which took place a month or so after the October 7th attacks, Edelman discussed retaliation “People have to pay, or it’s gonna keep on happening,” echoing a call for extreme action against Hamas in Gaza in the hopes of preventing similar attacks in the future.

I didn’t intend for this article to be about Robert Kraft, or Israel, or Robert Kraft’s billionaire pro-Israel initiative. Julian Edelman is an athlete whom I have long admired. I never found myself curious about his opinions on foreign policy; however, like many American Jews, I’ve been forced to reckon with the ever-presence of Israel in our media, politics, and life in general. This is especially true for Jews, but increasingly, this issue seems to be permeating American life in general. Our politicians, businessmen, cultural figures, and even athletes all seem to be wrapped up in this Israeli ouroboros.

Throughout my research, Julian Edelman has come across as an empathetic and goodhearted person, not to mention an incredible wide receiver. Despite my disagreements with Edelman’s politics, I don’t think his advocacy for Israel is ill-intentioned. However, it seems that he has become a part of a network that ultimately exists to play cover for the Israeli government and its actions. There are all sorts of powerful people—from Robert Kraft to our current president—whose primary goal seems to be preserving America’s unconditional, unending support for Israel, rabidly defending the country from any criticism in the process. I want Edelman to be remembered for his greatness as an athlete and his consistent message of empathy in the face of hate, but I wonder how future generations will look at how celebrities used their influence during this time in history. As Jews and as Americans, we are at a critical juncture. How do we want to relate to Israel? Does Israel define us? Julian Edelman has made his position clear, but I’m not as sure. The only thing I can be sure of is that legendary game-winning catch against the Seahawks, definitely a moment I’ll never forget.

Works Cited:

1. NFL Films, “Julian Edelman|A Football Life ” YouTube, Nov 25,
   2022,
2. AGENCIES. “Patriots’ Julian Edelman Becomes First-Ever Jewish
   Player to Win Super Bowl MVP | The Times of Israel.” Patriots’
   Julian Edelman becomes first-ever Jewish player to win Super Bowl
   MVP, February 4, 2019.
3. Reiss, Mike. “New England Patriots’ Julian Edelman Writes Open
   Letter to Meyers Leonard after Miami Heat Center’s Anti-Semitic
   Slur.” ESPN NFL News. Accessed May 17, 2026.
4. “Julian Edelman Wears Cleats to Honor Synagogue Shooting
   Victims.” WCVB, December 10, 2025.
5. Bloom, Nate. “Julian Edelman, The Real Jewish Story, as Far as I
   Know It.” The Jewish Standard, March 29, 2019.
6. Page Six Team. “Patriots Receiver Julian Edelman Tours Israel
   with Robert Kraft.” Page Six, June 22, 2019.
7. “About the Prize.” Laureate Selection | The Genesis Prize.
   Accessed May 17, 2026.
8. “Israel: A Family of Businesses.” A Family of Businesses | The
   Kraft Group, October 14, 2021.
9. Heller, Aron. Patriots owner Kraft pledges $20 million to battle
   anti-Semitism, BDS, June 21, 2019.
10. Florio, Mike. “Robert Kraft Sends Strong Message about
    Rampant Campus Protests.” NBC Sports, May 2, 2024.
11. Congregation Kehillath Israel. Julian Edelman discusses “Israel
    at War” with Rabbi Hamilton, November 2, 2023