Julian Edelman has a new job for this summer’s FIFA World Cup, and it puts him back in the business of selling Boston. The New England Patriots Hall of Famer said he is serving as Boston Hospitality Captain in partnership with On Location and will help present the city as a destination for the tournament.
That is why his name is surfacing now. Edelman said the role means more than showing up at events; it is about hosting an international crowd and showing why Boston is a great place for sports. He put it bluntly: the job is a “Slam dunk,” and he said, “We’re going to show them the Bostonian way, the New England region way.”
The assignment fits the way Edelman has built his post-playing profile. He is 40 years old, has three Super Bowls on his résumé and said his knees know it. He also said soccer has been part of his life since high school friends got him hooked on the FIFA video game, long before he started talking about where fans should gather this summer.
Edelman said the role came his way after he was called and asked if he wanted to do it. He described the duties as going to a bunch of On Location events, hosting an international crowd and serving as one of the faces tying Boston to the World Cup. He also said the last time he went to an On Location event, he met Megan Rapinoe.
The family piece is less certain. Edelman said he got his daughter all the FIFA Boston T-shirts and other Boston gear and “decked her out,” but he also said it is tough getting her back East from Los Angeles because of her soccer schedule and summer camps. He said, “We’re in Los Angeles, and we might go check out a match here at SoFi Stadium, but it’s kind of tough getting her back East with her soccer schedule and summer camps.”
He is also lining up one match of his own. Edelman said, “I’m going to a Scotland game with Gronk,” referring to Rob Gronkowski. He said he and Harry Kane became friends over the Internet and talked for about an hour after the 2018 Super Bowl at the post-game party, and he said he picked Tottenham because it was different from Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Man U, and because Kane was a big Patriots fan.
For now, the clearest next step is that Edelman is turning a local identity into a World Cup sales pitch, with Boston at the center of it. Whether his daughter joins him at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles or the trip stays on hold will tell fans how much of this summer he spends watching the tournament from the stands and how much he spends putting Boston on display.
