Ben Edwards (American Football)
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Ben Edwards (born April 11, 1992) 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 ...
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
who played for the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
of 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). He played football and basketball at York High School in
Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...
. He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
at
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
for four years. Edwards earned first-team All- CAA honors in 2012 after leading the CAA in receptions with 80. He was also named first-team All-CAA his senior year in 2013. After going undrafted in the
2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...
, Edwards remained unsigned until being signed by the Giants in May 2015. He played in two games for the Giants in 2015, catching one pass for nine yards. He spent the entire 2016 season on injured reserve and became a free agent afterwards.


Early life

Edwards played
high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
at York High School in
Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...
. He earned Offensive Player of the Year honors in the Bay Rivers District during his junior year in 2008. He also garnered first-team All-District and All-Region accolades as both a
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 ...
and
kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...
. Edwards earned second-team All-District accolades as a punter as well. In late September 2009, he suffered a sprained ankle, which slowed him for several weeks. In late October 2009, he suffered a broken collarbone that caused him to miss two games. Edwards played basketball at York High as well. He averaged 14.0 points and 5.4 assists per game in his junior year, garnering All-District honors. He had scholarship offers from the
University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...
,
James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...
and the
College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...
.


College career

Edwards played wide receiver for the Richmond Spiders of the
University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...
from 2010 to 2013. He played in ten games, starting five of them, throughout his freshman season in 2010, catching nine passes for 129 yards and a
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
. In 2011, he appeared in eleven games, of which he started ten, recording 44 receptions for 509 yards and six touchdowns. Edwards earned CAA All-Academic accolades the same year. He started all eleven games in his junior year in 2012 and led the CAA in receptions with 80. He also totaled 852 yards receiving and three receiving touchdowns. Edwards rushed for 117 yards on sixteen attempts that same year as well. He garnered first-team All-CAA, first-team VaSID All-State, College Sports Madness third-team All-CAA, CAA All-Academic and Touchdown Club of Richmond Division I National End/Wide Receiver of the Year honors in 2012. He played in nine games his senior year in 2013, catching 74 passes for 706 yards and five touchdowns. Edwards also rushed for 138 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries while returning 12 punts for 124 yards. He earned first-team All-CAA, second-team VaSID All-State, College Sports Madness second-team All-CAA, CAA All-Academic and Touchdown Club of Richmond Division I National End/Wide Receiver of the Year accolades in 2013. He also garnered College Sports Madness third-team All-CAA
punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...
recognition in 2013. Edwards tore his ACL in a game against the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens on November 16, 2013, and underwent surgery for the injury ten days later. He majored in leadership at Richmond.


Professional career

Edwards participated in Richmond's
Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...
on March 18, 2014, but did not run the
40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...
. He visited the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
in April 2014. He was rated the 155th best wide receiver in the
2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...
by NFLDraftScout.com. Edwards had a tryout with the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
of the NFL on August 5, 2014. He worked as a recruiter at
Fork Union Military Academy Fork Union Military Academy (abbreviated as FUMA) is a private school, private, all-male, college preparatory Christian school, Christian Military school, military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is co ...
in 2014. He was also an assistant coach with Fork Union's
postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
football team and varsity lacrosse team during the 2014–15 academic year. He participated in the Giants' three-day rookie minicamp in May 2015. Edwards signed with the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
on May 11, 2015, after a strong performance in the rookie minicamp. He suffered a hamstring injury at the end of the mandatory minicamp in June. He was waived/injured by the Giants on July 31. Edwards reverted to injured reserve on August 1, 2015. He was waived from the injured reserve list with an injury settlement on August 7, 2015. He then spent time as a wide receivers coach at York High School while recovering from his hamstring injury before being signed to the Giants' practice squad on November 18, 2015. Edwards was promoted to the active roster on December 24 after wide receiver
Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American professional American football, football wide receiver. He played college football for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers and was selected ...
was suspended for one game. He made his NFL debut on December 27, 2015, against the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
, catching one pass for nine yards on two targets while also returning a kickoff for twenty yards. He also played against the
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
on January 3, 2016. Edwards suffered a mild left knee sprain during voluntary workouts on April 27, 2016. He later returned to offseason workouts. He tore the ACL in his knee during practice on May 7 and was later ruled out for the season. Edwards was waived/injured by the team on May 9. He reverted to injured reserve the following day. After spending the entire 2016 season on injured reserve, he was not offered a contract by the Giants, making him a free agent.


Statistics

''Source'':


Personal life

Edwards's father played football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Ben's brother, Aaron, played as a quarterback for the Christopher Newport Captains football team.


References


External links


NFL Draft profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ben 1992 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Richmond Spiders football players High school football coaches in Virginia High school lacrosse coaches in the United States New York Giants players Players of American football from Newport News, Virginia People from Yorktown, Virginia Coaches of American football from Virginia