Relentless: A Memoir

There’s no other way to start this review of multiple-Super-Bowl-Champion-New England Patriot-Julian Edelman… except at unrelenting… take no prisoner… accept no excuses… hold on to my coattails… and dedicate yourself to greatness… or get the holy hell out of my way… and you may as well get off my team… if you don’t like it… WAAARRRPPPP-SPEEEEED!Oh yea…. And don’t forget… one of the holiest family mantras… for the Edelman’s… and mine… **NO SNIVELING**!!Julian’s storytelling starts fast… and remains fast… from start to finish. Coming from a family that had nothing… and having never been blessed with physical size… in a game… that is tilted heavily in the direction of behemoths… Julian (and his siblings) were always told…. Actually ordered… to never snivel… and keep working harder than anyone else.Edelman’s Father… Frank… worked Julian non-stop… regardless of the sport… baseball… basketball… football… regardless of the season… with the rage of a dictator. At times the two would go at each other… snarling… and even with baseball’s being thrown at each other. As they both said… (and I wholeheartedly agree)… though in today’s milk-toast-politically-correct society… Frank probably would have been arrested. The same could be said of my family… but that’s the way many people that want what you have accomplished… without having to have paid the same price… view this “you-can’t-hold-me-down-street-fighting-mentality”… this roughly-beautiful-poetic… innate desire and commitment… view this kind of dedicated-drive… when they look from the outside… in! This book… is about more than just being successful in sports… it’s about… a desire… and dedication… to being successful in anything in life. A potential reader… would have to be blind… to not grasp immediately… that no matter how “under-sized” Julian was growing up… his backbone… and heart… were bigger than ten goliaths added together.At every level… Pop Warner… High School… Junior College… College… the Pro’s… Julian never lost an ounce of that burning… fiery… uncontrollable… fury… to be the best. The whole story is intriguing and told at breakneck speed… as at almost every level… there were people on… or involved… with the team… that were simply accepting… mediocrity… and losing seasons. Julian Edelman… was definitely not… the lit match… that you wanted to drop into such a bucket of losing gasoline.As Edelman said to his Patriot teammates at halftime of Super Bowl L1… when New England was losing 21-3… regarding how the second half was going to transpire… “IT’S GONNA BE A HELLUVA STORY, BOYS!”…And so is… this entire book *RELENTLESS*… and what a perfect title.There’s so much more I can share with you regarding individual games and statistics… and famous names… but the point of this book… can be summarized more importantly from my heart. I was raised that *LIFE ISN’T FAIR*… and so was Julian… so you find ways to “fuel yourself… with… positive-hate”… so you never stop raging… and fighting back. If there ever was a self-help-book… disguised as a football story this is it…And believe it or not… I am not a Patriot fan… but I love the Patriots… from the owner Robert Kraft… to Coach Belichick… because of the way they run a team… and they run it in an otherwise out of control sports environment… where the clowns… are running the circus… but not in New England… and what a perfect home… for the epitome… of over-achieving… Julian Edelman.

Great value. Thanks!

Even if your not a patriot which i'm not it was a very good book.read it in a couple days

Good read! I'd recommend it to anyone who loves sports and competition. Jillian Always worked hard an was a super competitive player for the New England Patriots.

This is an excellent memoir by Super Bowl LIII MVP Julian Edelman.The memoir is aptly named as well: relentless. This is the saga of an undersized but determined athlete who persevered through high school, college, and the NFL to overcome his lack of size with relentless determination to succeed.Julian walks us through his entire athletic career overcoming all the doubters and shaping himself into a successful athlete at all levels of football. What is truly amazing is his ability to go from a small college quarterback at Kent State and learn a whole new craft of being a successful wide receiver in the NFL. That is not an easy transition even for the most gifted of athletes but Edelman not only has done it but now has one of the iconic catches in Super Bowl history and now a Super Bowl MVP that will etch his name in football history in perpetuity.I also liked how the book is interspersed with thoughts from coaches and teammates throughout his athletic journey.This is a great book that shows that relentless determination can allow anyone to live their dreams.

This book is a wonderful and easy read! Any lover of football would enjoy reading his story of growing up and playing in the NFL, even if they are not a Patriots fan. Edelman has a great story of never giving up and continuing to better himself in order to keep playing in the NFL. Relentless takes an in depth look into his childhood, college, and NFL career as well as giving short bits from family/friends and coaches.I truly enjoyed reading this book and found myself smiling with most of the stories he tells. There is also a lot of flashbacks to previous games that it always interesting and you can find his opinion on some of the things that have happened within the NFL.

I'm usually a slow reader, like a book a month if that kind of slow. I read this book in less than a week. I was so sad when it was finished.I love learning about the upbringings of my favorite sports stars and how they got to where they are today. The great thing about this book is it's educational too, he doesn't just tell you a play that they played or the defense played against him he goes in to detail about what that means and what it looks like on the field.There are inserts from people in his life, from family to his agents to Brady, Coach Belichick and Robert Kraft, I found it fascinating to read what they had to say about him as a person and a player.If you're a sports fan, football fan, Patriots fan or just want a really good book that will educate and give you a behind the scenes look in to an NFL player's life then this is the perfect book for you. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Great read from “Bubs” a fantastic guy

Relentless is a great insight into Julian’s mindset. His determination and resilience is evident throughout. A great read not just for patriots fans but for people who face or have faced adversity. There are some great photos in there too.

Julian was always a player to watch, full of effort, this book gives an insight into why and how he became a great.

I’m no Patriots fan, but this book goes some way to explaining a lot of their success, perhaps unintentionally. The Edelman work ethic appears to be the norm. A good read indeed.

Awesome book and an interesting insight

A great read about the importance of working hard to reach your goals and believing in yourself.