The Tom Brady roast was a roaring success. While the comedians did what they do best, it was a different setup for players like Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman. However, they stepped up and got some brilliant digs in. But no matter how confident they seemed on the roast, they had their share of nervous moments before the actual roast commenced.
Julian Edelman described the nerves everyone was feeling prior to the show on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’, describing the scene as,
“It was 100% like a locker room before a game. Guys are sitting there making a little joke here or there but then you’d see a guy run off to the corner to go look at his jokes and practice his jokes. Gronk went to the bathroom like four times I think to run his jokes. ”
Edelman recalled some of the backstage tension, likening it to what a locker room typically looks like before a game. Edelman explained the tense backstage with Randy Moss, Drew Bledsoe, Gronk, Bill Belichick, and himself.
And that wasn’t all. There was also some nervousness after seeing everyone from his old Patriots days in one place.
The Nervous ‘Family Reunion’ During the Roast
With a lot of key members of the old Patriots under one roof, the roast was like a typical family reunion. While there were some people that people were excited to see, there was some nervousness as well. Edelman spoke about the kind of joy he felt being reunited with his old teammates and his old coach.
However, he also addressed the kind of tension there was between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. The ex-WR spoke about how Kraft’s entry into the green room backstage was followed by everyone getting up to greet him while Belichick was ‘holding court’.
Edelman compared the situation to seeing divorced parents meet after the separation. Notably, the nervousness and the tension of the roast added to it. However, he also mentioned that the two individuals showed a lot of maturity when it came to being cordial with each other. There was a display of mutual respect between Kraft and Belichick during the roast as well.
While the past events of Belichick being let go were used as material during the roast, it seems like it didn’t affect the environment backstage.
Moreover, all the non-comedians who took center stage during the roast were able to have a splendid performance with great material. Edelman himself expressed that the roast was a brilliant opportunity to see his old teammates and that in his eyes, it was a huge success.