The Patriot Way: Julian Edelman

Ch. 4: No funny business

It's been 3 weeks since the incident with Julian on my first day at work, since then we've barely seen each other. I only see him when he's playing on the field or sitting on the sidelines, and he makes every effort to not have to come to the athletic trainer's office. I hate that we're ignoring each other, but I think it's for the best. When we're around each other for too long we end up breaking our promises. In a perfect world me and Julian could be friends and professional co-workers, but the chances of that happening are slim to none.

It's October 5th and we're playing the Cincinnati Bengals at home this week. I watch from the medical area as offense gets back onto the field at the start of the 4th quarter. We're winning, but it doesn't keep the boys from playing to their best abilities.

My mind drifts to my conversation with Delilah and Ava that I had earlier in the day. Halloween is approaching and we're planning our costumes in advance. Halloween is our absolute favorite Holiday by far. We love a good excuse to dress up, go out, and eat way too much candy. Halloween in college was always our favorite, everyone had so much fun dressing slutty and getting plastered with their friends. Now that we're out of college, we've decided to keep up the tradition. We have a few parties that we were invited to, and a few that we're gonna crash. I was invited to the annual Patriots halloween party, but getting hammered in a slutty costume around my coworkers and my brother doesn't sound like the best plan. Me and the girls are still deciding between going as Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders or going as playboy bunnies. Me and Ava are holding out for DCC, but Del wants to wear bunny ears and a slutty body suit more than anything.

I look up at the field to see Tom throw the football to Julian on the 50 yard line. Julian catches the ball and turns around only to be brutally tackled from both directions. Gasps ring out as the whole crowd watches Julian's knee twist in the opposite direction of his upper body. As the Bengal's players around him get up and walk off, Julian is still on the field—clearly in immense pain. He clutches his right knee as he rolls slightly back and forth.

Me and Mike get up quickly and jog out on the field towards him. This should make me nervous, but in this moment I'm so worried that I don't give a shit what personal issues me and Jules have. When we approach Julian, Tom is already knelt beside him trying to talk to him. Mike and I kneel on either side of him asking him questions like "Is it your right knee?" And "What's your pain rating on a 1-10 scale?"—all standard questions.

"Fucker landed right on my knee and twisted it good." He says as he takes his helmet off. I instinctively put my hand on his shoulder and give a light squeeze to silently say 'you're gonna be okay'.

"Do you think you can put weight on it?" I ask him while observing his injured knee.

"I think so..." he says hesitantly as he takes his first look at me in over three weeks. I take his hesitation as a silent cry for help. Mike and I slowly help him up to his feet and put his arms around each of us. I can hear his sharp inhale through his nose as he puts weight on his right leg.

We get him off of the field and into the medical tent as the game continues behind us. I sit Jules down in one of our chairs while Mike goes to gather some supplies. Normally with anyone else I would work on getting his pants off of his knee, but this time I'm hesitant. I know I need to be professional right now but the literal last thing I want to do is take Julian's pants off. I first try my hardest to roll the pants up on his leg—with no luck. Why do football pants have to be so damn tight?!
I look up to Julian to see if he knows what's coming, as if he reads my mind he starts stripping off his tight pants from the waist down. I finally put my personal feelings aside and help him get his pants off, then I get him a towel to cover up with. He has boxers on, but 1. I don't trust myself being this close to Julian in his underwear and 2. I don't want anyone else to see Jules in his underwear. Mike comes over with his supplies and tries to pinpoint where his pain is by feeling around and seeing what movements are painful or not. We finally decide that Julian will not be going back in to finish the game and we take him to our office inside of the stadium to decide what tests need to be done.