Antuan Minye' Edwards (born May 26, 1977) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Edwards was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the first round (25th overall) of the 1999 NFL draft out of

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

Early life and college

He attended Starkville High School in Mississippi, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, safety, and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He was named

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as a safety in his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year. At Clemson, he started thirty-three games and recorded a total of 219 tackles, with eight interceptions. During his senior year, he was a first-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

and was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.

Professional career

Early career

Edwards was selected in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, the first of three consecutive defensive backs the Packers would take in that draft; the others being Fred Vinson and Mike McKenzie. Edwards would play all sixteen games of his rookie season, starting one of them. During the course of the year, he made a total of thirty tackles (twenty-six solo), had four interceptions including one returned for a touchdown, and was named to the ''College & Pro Football Weekly'' All-Rookie team. The following season, he started three games but saw his tackle total go down to twenty-five, while defending nine passes and two interceptions. Edwards only played in three games in 2001 when he suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve. In 2002, he started the season as the team's starting safety, but was replaced early on by rookie Marques Anderson following a forearm injury. He spent the rest of the season as a backup and totaled forty-four tackles.

Later career

He beat out Anderson for the starting job in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and started a career-high twelve games, and recorded 51 tackles. He would finish the season on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

following a late-season injury. He left the Packers at the end of the season to join the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. He started eight games for the team and had 35 tackles when he was released from the team. He was claimed by the St. Louis Rams, where he ended the season with five starts and 30 more tackles. Edwards then signed with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

but was cut, and signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. He started one game and had eleven tackles for the season, but was cut early on. He joined the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, but was released early in camp.

NFL statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Antuan 1977 births Living people American football safeties Atlanta Falcons players Clemson Tigers football players Green Bay Packers players Miami Dolphins players Players of American football from Starkville, Mississippi St. Louis Rams players Starkville High School alumni