For many New England Patriot fans, Monday was a sad day.

Julian Edelman announced his retirement with a video that was posted on social media, thus driving another nail in the coffin of the Patriots dynasty. The three most important pieces to the Super Bowl titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018 – Brady, Gronk and Edelman – are all gone now. If you were one of those folks who somehow still believed the “dynasty” was alive, you’re now officially out of luck.

Personally, I lost all ability to have an emotional attachment to local athletes when Nomar Garciaparra was traded in 2004, so Edelman’s departure wasn’t a gut punch or anything for me. However,  if you ask me or most logical fans who the second most valuable Patriot of the last decade-plus was, it’s Edelman by a country mile and his departure is just another blow to what was seemingly an indestructible foundation at 1 Patriot Place.

The question that was bandied about throughout the morning and afternoon on Tuesday across social media, sports radio and some of the national networks was does Edelman belong in the Hall of Fame? While I believe he does, there’s no chance in hell he gets in.

Edelman’s career numbers ( 137 games, 620 catches, 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns) are modest at best. His playoff numbers (19 games, 118 catches, 1,442 yards and five touchdowns) are impressive and anyone that watched him in the biggest games knows just how valuable he was. Those 118 catches leave him behind Jerry Rice (151) for all-time postseason receptions. Let’s also not forget the touchdown pass to Danny Amendola in the 2014 AFC Divisional game against Baltimore, too. Perhaps the most important aspect of his career was his third down prowess. Brady to Edelman on third-and-medium or short was truly one of the great locks in sports history.

I believe the qualification for any Hall of Fame no matter what sport is whether or not you can talk about a team in that era without mentioning a certain player. You absolutely cannot talk about the New England Patriots from 2010-2019 without mentioning Edelman in the first or second sentence. Unfortunately, guys with much better career numbers (Hines Ward was a prime example discussed everywhere on Tuesday) who aren’t getting in hurt Edelman’s case even more from a national perspective.

This is very similar to the Curt Schilling MLB HOF debate for me, aside from Schilling talking WAY more than Edelman ever did. I put a ton of stock in clutch postseason moments, and these two guys were two of the best in the most critical situations. With that being said, we remember things differently than the rest of the country does, and both guys for many people were simply nice players that will never be considered elite.

In a few years, Edelman will don a red Patriots Hall of Fame jacket and should always be remembered as one of the most clutch players not only in Pats history, but in Boston sports history as well. The gold jacket will probably elude him, but there are few athletes that have played here that left the fan base with as many memories as Edelman did.