Lavar M. Edwards (born April 29, 1990) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. 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 ...

for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

. He was selected by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play 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) in the fifth round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

Early life

Edwards attended Desire Street Academy high school. He was ranked among the top 40 prospects in the state of Louisiana by Rivals.com. During high school, He was named to the Baton Rouge Advocate's Super Dozen.

College career

He accepted a scholarship to play at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

for coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

LSU Tigers football The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers, Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athle ...

team from 2009 to 2012. In his last two years, he played

behind Barkevious Mingo and

Sam Montgomery Sidney Sammual Montgomery (born May 25, 1990) is an American former professional football defensive end. He was selected by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft. He played college football for the LSU Tigers, where he earne ...

. He finished his college career with a total of 96 tackles, 10.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. On January 25, 2013, he was selected to participate in the

2013 Senior Bowl The 2013 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2012 college football season, and prospects for the 2013 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The 64th edition of the Senior Bo ...

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Edwards was selected by the

in the fifth round (142nd overall) of the

, with the intention of playing

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Jerry Gray Jerry Don Gray (born December 16, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant head coach/defense for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Gray played college football for the Texas Longhorns, ...

's 4-3 defense. As a rookie, he was inactive for nine games, played in 7 contests (one start), while registering 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback pressure and a pass defensed. The next year

Ray Horton Raymond Anthony Horton (born April 12, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He played college football at Washington and was drafted in the second round of the 1983 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Early life In 1978, Hor ...

was hired to change the defense to a 3–4 alignment, so he was traded to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in exchange for a conditional seventh round pick (not exercised) on August 30,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

Edwards was waived on September 20,

, with this pattern repeating two additional times during the season, until being re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on November 3. He was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 t ...

on December 10, finishing with 10 tackles. He was cut on September 6,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, to make room for

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 ...

Christine Michael Christine Lynn Michael Sr. (; born November 9, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M and was selected by the Seattle Seahaw ...

Oakland Raiders

A day after being waived by the

, Edwards was claimed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. On September 11, 2015, he was cut to make room for

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Aldon Smith Aldon Jacarus Smith (born September 25, 1989) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Missouri Tigers, and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the sev ...

Chicago Bears

On September 16, 2015, he was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. He was released on September 25.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

On September 29, 2015, Edwards was signed to the Cowboys' practice squad.

Buffalo Bills

On December 1, 2015, he was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

from the Cowboys practice squad. On September 2, 2016, he was released by the Bills as part of final roster cuts.

Carolina Panthers

On September 4, 2016, Edwards was claimed off waivers by the Panthers. He was released on October 18, 2016.

Indianapolis Colts

Edwards was claimed off waivers by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

on October 19, 2016. He was released by the Colts on December 15, 2016, and was signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts on January 2, 2017. On September 2, 2017, Edwards was waived by the Colts.

Cleveland Browns

On December 13, 2017, Edwards was signed by 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 ...

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Lavar 1990 births Living people American football defensive ends LSU Tigers football players Tennessee Titans players Dallas Cowboys players People from Gretna, Louisiana Players of American football from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Oakland Raiders players Chicago Bears players Buffalo Bills players Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players Cleveland Browns players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Canadian football defensive linemen Players of Canadian football from Louisiana