FOXBORO — It’s a story that’s been going on for the better part of 29 years.

Julian Edelman gets hit. He gets up. He keeps on moving. Or, Julian Edelman gets hurt. He comes back. He keeps playing.

He’s Foxboro's version of Rocky Balboa. He’s the underdog, the undersized boxer who gets knocked down over and over, but somehow bounces back up and keeps fighting. Or, in his case, runs back to the huddle and calls for the ball once more.

Whether as an option quarterback at Woodside High School or Kent State, or in the NFL as a star receiver, Edelman’s been taking a beating his whole life. It still hasn’t stopped him.

“It’s not about how hard you get hit,” Edelman said. “It’s about how hard you can get hit and get up.”

Getting clobbered over the middle is something Edelman’s dealt with since getting drafted by the Patriots in 2009. Battling back from injury is something he’s done since his early days of playing football. Ask his coaches and they’ll tell the stories. Edelman never let an injury to his back, forearm or knee or hold him back.

The Patriots begin their playoff run on Saturday with Edelman back in the lineup, nine weeks after breaking his left foot. Whether he’s completely healthy or not, Patriots fans can be confident of one thing.

“I just give ‘em my 100. I give it my all every time,” Edelman said. “That’s the way I was brought up and that’s the way I play.”

THE JUNIOR QUARTERBACK seemed fine during the second game of the 2007 season, when Kent State took on Kentucky. Edelman was shaking and moving, making himself a nuisance for opposing defenders like it was any regular day.

He passed for 129 yards and touchdown. He also ran for a season-high 135 yards on 24 carries. And he did it despite the fact that he suffered a torn PCL in his knee during the game.

No one knew. Not even coach Doug Martin.

“We didn’t even know he hurt his knee at Kentucky in that game until we got back because he never said a word about it,” Martin said. “He did it in the third quarter and just kept playing. That’s kind of who he is. He doesn’t show pain. He’s one of the toughest players I’ve ever been around. Definitely most competitive I’ve ever been around.”

Before he turned into an NFL wide receiver, Edelman was on the receiving end of plenty of hits between high school and college. But as Martin found out, he could always depend on the kid from Redwood City, Calif.

Edelman had a demeanor that Martin and his coaching staff loved. They saw it while he was playing for one season at the College of San Mateo, and it’s a big reason they gave him his only Division I scholarship offer. It was not just about how he played hurt, but the way he went about proving to everyone that he could accomplish anything he wanted.

“I think a lot of it has to do with just the competitiveness that he has and the mental toughness,” Martin said. “He has a great passion for the game and he’s got a real healthy chip on his shoulder. He’s still trying to prove to everybody that he deserves to be there. Even with the success he’s had. He was like that in college. He’s always trying to prove to everybody he deserved to be there.”

The competitive streak went beyond the game field. Edelman had to be out there. He would practice – injured or not. Even after he suffered that knee injury in his junior season, he still played and didn’t miss a game until he broke his forearm later that season.

“And then he fractured his forearm, was out a while and then still came back at the end of that season,” Martin said. “You’re talking about a guy that not only has a lot of physical toughness to him, too, but he’s got a whole lot of mental toughness. He has a great passion to play. He’s a team guy. There’s something special about him.”

EDELMAN WAS AN ULTRA TALENTED, but skinny, 5-foot-10 quarterback at Woodside High School. He was a team leader who possessed a larger-than-life presence on the football field. But coach Steve Nicolopulos was worried about him.

Woodside’s offense revolved around their star quarterback, and he was taking a lot of hits. After each blow, he’d return to the huddle and do it again without question. In order to protect Edelman, Nicolopulos called for more plays that called for the quarterback would give the ball to someone else instead of keeping it himself.

It didn’t exactly go as planned. If Edelman wanted the ball, he was keeping it.

“He was an option quarterback for us, so option quarterbacks take a beating, and that was one of my concerns all the time. How many hits can he go ahead and take?” Nicolopulos said. “So we’d try and limit the number of hits that he got, but knowing how Julian is, it didn’t make a difference to him. He’d change a play and keep the ball instead of giving it. And if he took a hit, he’d bounce back.”

When asked about changing the plays at the line of scrimmage, Edelman smiled and said, “Thought it was a better look."

Nicolopulos also saw Edelman fight back from injuries. He injured his back while playing baseball as a junior. There was a thought that he wouldn’t be ready for his senior season. But of course he was. Edelman rehabbed the injury and came back to lead the Wildcats to a 13-0 season.

“If you told him he can’t do it, he’s going to prove you wrong. If you tell him it’s going to be five weeks, he’s going to show you it’s going to be three weeks recovery,” Nicolopulos said. “If you say he’s never going to play in the NFL, he’s going to show you he’s going to play in the NFL. He accomplishes everything. From what I know, he’s accomplished everything that he’s set out to do so far in life. That’s Julian. That’s just the way he is.”

ALL THE TRAITS that make Edelman who he is can be traced back to his family.

His father, Frank Edelman, is a grinder. A mechanic who owns A-1 Auto Tech in Mountain View, Calif., he was also passionate about football. Julian Edelman remembers seeing his father coaching his brother Jason, who is seven years older.

As he grew up, sports became his love, but football was his passion. Despite being undersized, it’s what came natural to him. He loves football so much that he never wanted to sit out a play or a practice. Playing hurt or bouncing back only became second nature.

“I played three sports all through my life. This was the sport that I always got,” Edelman said. “I practiced a lot for baseball. I had to practice a lot more for basketball. Football always came natural and I was always around it. It was something that I just enjoyed. There’s nothing like scoring a touchdown.”

There are plenty of things Edelman couldn’t control — like his height — but he never let physical shortcomings hold him back. After every year in college, he’d return home and work out with high-school kids to improve what he could. He's a rare breed.

“I see a change in the way kids are, the competitive nature. It’s kind of this video-game mentality,” Nicolopulos said. “When life gets tough, you press the reset button. But with Julian, he doesn’t press the reset button. He fixes it.”

Edelman credits his dad and brother for his physical toughness and his mother, Angie Edelman, for molding that never-give-up attitude.

“I had an older brother that used to beat me up a bunch and had a father that was tough,” Julian Edelman said. “I had the stubbornness of my mom to try to, you know, to keep it going. It’s a mixture of everything.”

He’ll take all the lessons he’s learned into Saturday’s AFC divisional game against Kansas City.

“You literally have to tape him to the bench to keep him there,” Martin said. “He’s always on you about, ‘I can go. I can go. I’m good.’ And he’s one of those guys where he’s always had a great work ethic. He’s always been in great shape. He’s really strong. He’s always been a quicker healer, too.”

Hurt or not, he’ll be out there. Julian Edelman’s ready to answer that bell.