Ben Edwards (born April 10, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He played football and basketball at York High School in

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Cou ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

for four years. Edwards earned First-team All-

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

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

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

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 years

Edwards played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at York High School in

. 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 (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 position ...

. 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. He 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 liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

and the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

College career

Edwards played wide receiver for the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider na ...

of the

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. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. In 2011, he appeared in eleven games, of which he started ten, recording 44 receptions for 509 yards and six touchdowns. Edwards earned

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 punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

recognition in 2013. Edwards tore his ACL in a game against the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the college athletics, athletic teams of the University of Delaware of Newark, Delaware, Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Division I-AA#Football Championship Subdivision, Foo ...

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 National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

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

in April 2014. He was rated the 155th best wide receiver in the

by NFLDraftScout.com. Edwards had a tryout with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

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, all-male, college preparatory military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is considered one of the premier military boarding academies in th ...

in 2014. He was also an assistant coach with Fork Union's

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

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

on May 11, 2015, after a strong performance in rookie minicamp. He suffered a hamstring injury at the end of 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 football wide receiver who is a free agent. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beckham played college football at LSU and was drafted by the ...

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. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

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 The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 va ...

. 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 Sportspeople from Newport News, Virginia People from Yorktown, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia