Teacher sends apology note to student - 11 years later

A teacher sent an apology note to a star student. Photo / Getty

Teachers take pride in helping their students achieve their potential, but one tutor has apologised after warning an NFL star against following his dreams 11 years ago.

New England Patriots star Julian Edelman shared a letter from his old teacher who expressed regret for ever doubting his ambitions.

The unidentified teacher explained it took him or her 11 years to finally get it off their chest and write to the 31-year-old.

set your goals high.
do whatever it takes to achieve them. #motivation pic.twitter.com/1eoaG2yp9w

— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) July 18, 2017

"I don't think it fazed you, frankly, but whenever I think back on it, I feel terrible, not because you proved me wrong, but because I stupidly voiced an uneducated opinion that implied I had distain for your passion for the game."

Here's the full letter:

"Dear Jules,

"I'm not sure you'll remember me: I was your English teacher for your English 100 class at CSM in the spring of 2006. I've been wanting to write to you for, oh, what seems like a thousand years, to apologise to you for a flippant comment I made to you that semester.

"You may not even remember it, but I've felt bad about it for years. You had made some comment about 'going to the league', and I said something about setting realistic goals, about how few people successfully enter the ranks of the professional athlete, blah, blah, blah.

"I don't think it fazed you, frankly, but whenever I think back on it, I feel terrible, not because you proved me wrong, but because I stupidly voice an uneducated opinion that implied I had distain for your passion for the game.

"I think it was early in the semester, before I knew you, but how could I have ever doubted your tenacity and grit is beyond me! Again, I doubt you've ever even thought about it twice, but even so, I am sorry got wedging my foot so firmly in my mouth that day."

Edelman shared the post with the caption: "Set your goals high. Do whatever it takes to achieve them."