Patrick Michael Edwards (born October 25, 1988) 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

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 ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

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

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

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education inst ...

Early life

Edwards was born in

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the 2020 United States census, U.S. census. Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas and is a principal city in th ...

, to Patrick Dixon and Patricia Edwards. He was raised in

Hearne, Texas Hearne ( ) is a city in Robertson County, Texas, Robertson County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 4,544. The city is named for a family that settled in the area in the 19th centur ...

, where he attended Hearne High School. There, he played baseball, basketball, and football and competed in track and field. In basketball, Edwards was named an All-Region and All-District player, and, in baseball, he was named an All-District player. He played football as a wide receiver, and earned first-team All-State, All-District, and All-

Brazos Valley Brazos Valley ( ) is a region of the U.S. state of Texas comprising the following 7 counties in Central Texas: Brazos, Burleson, and Robertson (which collectively comprise the Bryan–College Station metropolitan area), and the neighboring cou ...

honors.Player Bio: Patrick Edwards
, University of Houston, retrieved February 10, 2009. He was recruited by Baylor, Henderson State, and Houston. He chose the latter, as he had long ambitions to attend the school.

College career

Edwards did not secure a scholarship, but impressed the Cougars' coaches enough in try-outs to earn a walk-on position. He sat out the 2007 season as a redshirt. He entered the season as a starter at a wide receiver position. During the first eight games of the season, Edwards recorded 46 receptions for 634 receiving yards and four touchdowns. He compiled 100-plus yard games against

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

, and Southern Methodist. Against

UAB UAB may stand for: *Uždaroji akcinė bendrovė, a type of limited liability company in Lithuania Organizations *Apostolic United Brethren, polygamist Mormon fundamentalist church *University of Alabama at Birmingham, a public research university ...

, he tallied a season-long 70-yard reception.Patrick Edwards Stats
ESPN, retrieved February 10, 2009. For their eighth game of the season, Houston traveled to meet

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

. The Thundering Herd scored first with a field goal, and never relinquished the lead. In the third quarter, Houston quarterback Blake Joseph threw a long pass into the Marshall end zone. His intended receiver, Edwards, in pursuit of the pass, ran out of the back of the end zone. Just beyond the boundary, he collided with a cart. Running at full speed, Edwards' right leg impacted the object and he flipped over due to the momentum. He suffered a compound fracture of the leg. The cart was one of several that were parked just outside the field's boundary and held equipment for the Marshall band.Marshall never trails as Houston loses game, impact WR Edwards
ESPN, October 28, 2008. Houston athletic director

Dave Maggard Dave Maggard (born January 12, 1940) is an American former Olympian and university athletic director. Maggard, who grew up in San Francisco and Turlock, California, graduated from University of California-Berkeley. He is a former member of the U. ...

declined to comment substantively about the situation, but confirmed he would discuss the matter with Marshall officials. Edwards himself considered the burden of responsibility to be with the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

officiating crew, rather than Marshall. Shortly after the incident, he said from the hospital, "They are supposed to check and see if everything is off the field." On March 30, 2009, Edwards announced that he would return to play the 2009 season and that he intended to pursue legal action against Marshall for his injury. He still had an extremely productive college stay, racking up 4507 yards and 43 touchdowns on 291 receptions. In Houston's 73-34 win against the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

on October 27, 2011, Edwards had 7 receptions for 318 yards and 5 touchdowns. Edwards was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year for the 2011 season."Cougars rake in C-USA honors"
by Sam Khan, Jr.. ''Houston Chronicle'', December 7, 2011.

College statistics

Professional career

Edwards signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

and made the 2013 team roster. He was cut by the Lions on October 14, but was signed to the Lions'

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 ...

two days later. He was released during Detroit's final cuts in 2014. Later in the 2014 season he was re-signed to the practice squad but was released before the season ended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Patrick Living people 1988 births Players of American football from Temple, Texas American football wide receivers Houston Cougars football players Detroit Lions players People from Hearne, Texas

Early life

College career

College statistics

Professional career

See also

References