【2023 Archives】

When the New England Patriots heard there was a girl from New Hampshire that was being bullied for playing football023 Archives Julian Edelman stepped up to show that the team had her back.

Dejah Rondeau is a seventh grader from Exeter, New Hampshire (a.k.a. Patriots country) who plays quarterback and unfortunately has been facing some bullying simply because of her gender. After the team caught wind of all this, they invited her to visit Gillette Stadium and play catch with her favorite player, Edelman.

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When Edelman first met Rondeau after her tour of the Patriots' trophy room with owner Robert Kraft, he said, "I heard we’ve got a quarterback here to take [Tom] Brady’s spot."

Edelman told Rondeau about how much respect he had for her to keep following her passion despite the bullying.

"I heard about your story, about going out there and having a challenge, of dealing with adversity because people not accepting this, that,” he said. “My respect level for you is just through the roof because you just ignored all the noise and you played the game we all love and that’s football.”

Edelman then Rondeau, who wears the same no. 11 on her jersey as her favorite player, if she had any plans for Super Bowl Sunday before handing her a pair of tickets to the game.

Rondeau was excited, to say the least.

"That was crazy," she said about the experience. "I never thought that would ever happen. I’m just really excited to go."

Rondeau will be watching the New England Patriots play the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night.