His face was still a little flushed from stepping out of the subfreezing

FOXBOROUGH Germaine Pratt Jersey , Mass. (AP) — temperatures at Gillette Stadium field just minutes following the Patriots’ 41-28 divisional-round win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday .Still, Julian Edelman stood at his locker satisfied — at least for a moment.Then he was asked when he would start his preparations for their AFC championship game matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.“Immediately,” he said without hesitation. “We’re going to go play the best team in the AFC, the No. 1 seed. It’s going to start with an unbelievable week of practice, preparation. We need to do that to give ourselves the best chance to win.”Making the most of every one of his opportunities has become a hallmark of Edelman’s 10 seasons in New England.The Patriots were dealt a blow prior to their final two regular-season games when Josh Gordon was suspended for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy.But what could have created a hole in New England’s receiving group has been plugged by its oldest member.The 32-year-old Edelman has put together back-to-back vintage performances and is expected to again play a big role during Sunday’s AFC championship game.Edelman tied his regular-season high of nine catches and had a career playoff-best 151 yards receiving in New England’s win over Los Angeles.With 98 playoff receptions during his career, he moved past Reggie Wayne (93) and is second all-time behind Jerry Rice with 151. Edelman’s five career 100-yard receiving games in the postseason trail only Rice’s eight and Michael Irvin’s six.Edelman, who missed last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and sat out the first four games of this season for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers, empathizes with Gordon’s situation.“He was making plays for us. We wish him the best to get himself right,” Edelman said. “That’s a tough thing to go through. We’re here to support him. But sometimes the train just has to keep on going. … And as much as you miss him http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-ryan-finley-jersey , you gotta start thinking about what you gotta do to keep on going out and try to win ballgames.”The week after Gordon’s suspension, Edelman caught five of the six balls thrown to him for 69 yards and a touchdown.Over the past three games, including the playoff win over the Chargers, Edelman has been targeted by Brady 29 times, catching 20 passes for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns.Edelman’s performance on Sunday was in many ways a throwback effort by a receiver that has developed a reputation of being one of Brady’s most dependable receivers in the playoffs. On Sunday, he was instrumental in helping the Patriots score on each of the first four drives of the game.He had a third-down catch on their opening scoring drive and had a 28-yard catch on their second drive that got the Patriots in the red zone. It set up Sony Michel’s second rushing touchdown of the game just a play later.It also helped spread out the Los Angeles defense and opened the field for New England’s rushing attack to wear the Chargers down .“He’s such a great player and just a great teammate, competitor and had a great game,” Brady said. “He came up big. We needed it and we’ll need it next week, too.”That’s because it’s exactly the kind of ball-control Renell Wren Jersey , efficient offensive effort that New England will need to limit the possessions of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a Kansas City offense that ended the regular season as the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, averaging 35.3 points per game.“Anytime you can start fast and score on your opening drive, good things tend to follow,” Edelman said. When it comes to NFL Players, there may be a bit of a stigma that they are jerks. Granted, the fact that I recently wrote about the 20 biggest jerks in the league’s history doesn’t do a lot to dispel that notion. What may help is the fact that I promise you that the league is full of players that are genuinely trying to make a difference in their community.Sports is a well paid profession and it is not uncommon to hear of an athlete that blew/threw their money away and are broke shortly after retirement. This is extra sad when you are about to read about so many players who clearly used their money to accomplish extraordinary things for individuals who may not have access to outside helpThere is no doubt that young people are not going to look up to professional athletes. They’re passionate individuals who worked hard their entire lives, and achieved what is a very improbable goal. So, if you are going to look up to someone, you might as well try and make sure that you are looking up to someone that you know is not just a great football player http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-jordan-jersey , but a great person.Every year the NFL recognizes one individual from each NFL team for the Walter Payton: Man Of The Year Award. You only need to see one of the many winners receive their award to understand just how much this means to the players who value it. Many of the men below have all been nominated at one point or another, many in this past year, for their outstanding contributions to the community.There are some past winners of the award in here, but also some players that clearly take the time out of their extremely busy lives to do some good in the world, even if it is not always recognized on that level.These are the 15 best people in the NFL.