Former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman said the public has treated Jordon Hudson unfairly over her viral interjection during Bill Belichick’s recent “CBS Sunday Morning” interview.
Edelman, who was coached by Belichick for his entire 12-year NFL career with the Patriots, explained that he heard Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend is juggling multiple roles in his professional life and acting as his “representative” — which explains her interrupting CBS’ Tony Dokoupil for asking about their relationship.
“People are giving an unfair reality of what’s going on,” Edelman said while discussing Hudson’s viral moment on his “Dudes on Dudes” podcast with former Patriots teammate, Rob Gronkowski. “Because she was jumping into that conversation during the interview just like any PR person would jump in when there is an unnecessary question that probably didn’t go over in the pre-production meeting.
“From what I’ve heard, Jordon is playing the Berj role — handling all the football ops, handling a lot of his social, a lot of his PR,” Edelman said, referring to Berj Najarian, the Patriots’ director of football/head coach administration, who was Belichick’s right hand man in New England.
“When you look at this situation and you say, ‘Oh this is his girlfriend jumping’, I think that’s unfair. I think she’s actually working with Coach Belichick in the professional world and she was probably went and said, ‘hey, no were not doing that.’
“Doesn’t that always happen whenever you do an interview? Do you not have a representative there?” Edelman asked.
“Yeah,” Gronkowski replied. “She’s becoming a representative on top of being his girlfriend.
Belichick and the Patriots parted ways in January 2024 after 24 seasons six and Super Bowl rings.
After signing a five-year, $50 million deal to be UNC’s next head football coach last December, Belichick brought Hudson into the fold, reportedly including her on all UNC emails, among other things.
The “Dudes on Dudes” podcast shared a clip of their discussion on X, with the caption, “The Belichick interview is being blown out of proportion.”
Three days after the interview nearly broke the internet, Belichick and UNC said in a statement on Tuesday that Hudson was simply doing her job and trying to keep the interview focused on his new book, “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football,” which releases May 6.
They also denied that Hudson was trying to control the conversation and explained that she interjected because Belichick said he agreed to do the interview if it was solely focused on the contents of the book.
During the interview, Dokoupil mentioned that Belichick referred to Hudson as his “idea mill” and “creative muse” in his book before he asked how they met.
“We’re not talking about this,” Hudson said.
In his statement, Belichick said he and Hudson met while on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021.
“When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview,” A CBS News spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. “There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.”