Bradford Wayne Edwards (born February 22, 1966) is a former

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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

who played nine seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for 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 ...

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

, and 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. He is currently the chief executive officer at the NFL Alumni Association.

Early life

Edwards was born in

Lumberton, North Carolina Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. As of 2020, its population was 19,025. It is the seat of Robeson County's government. Located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, Lumberton is located on the Lum ...

and graduated from

Douglas Byrd High School Douglas Byrd High School is a four-year public high school located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Their mascot is the Eagle. Notable alumni * Dominic A. Antonelli former NASA astronaut * Brad Edwards NFL defensive back and Super Bowl XXVI c ...

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

in 1984. He then attended and 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 ...

at the University of South Carolina. In May 2011, Edwards was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Edwards was drafted in the second round of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marq ...

by the

. He then played for the

and started in

Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, had two interceptions, and was runner-up MVP. He finished his career with the

, even though he signed with 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

for the training camp, but was cut as he didn't make the Packers' 53-man roster heading into the season.

After football

Edwards previously served as an assistant athletic director and senior associate athletic director at the University of South Carolina (1999–2006) under the tutelage of athletic director Mike McGee. Following his tenure at USC, Edwards entered the private sector at IMI Resort Holdings, Inc. Edwards officially returned to athletics on May 17, 2009, when he was named the athletic director at

Newberry College Newberry College is a private Lutheran college in Newberry, South Carolina. It has 1,250 students. Accreditation Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award ...

. He is also the former Director of Athletics at

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College u ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. In June 2014, he accepted a position as Director of Athletics at

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

. In October 2022, Brad accepted his current role as chief executive officer (CEO) of the NFL Alumni Association. Founded in 1967, NFL Alumni Association is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit organization that is composed of former

(NFL) players, coaches, team staff members, former cheerleaders and associate members. NFL Alumni Association mission is "Caring for Kids" and "Caring for Our Own". Edwards can also frequently be heard on Columbia's

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

station 93.1.

Personal life

Edwards is married to the former Marlana Brown of

Hodges, South Carolina Hodges is a town in Greenwood County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 155 at the 2010 census. The mayor is Michael George. Hodges was named after Major General George Washington Hodges, who was commander of all of South Carolina ...

and has three sons - Jackson, Thomas, and Colton - and a daughter, Hastings.

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people American football safeties Atlanta Falcons players George Mason Patriots athletic directors Jacksonville Dolphins athletic directors Minnesota Vikings players Newberry Wolves athletic directors South Carolina Gamecocks football players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Fayetteville, North Carolina People from Lumberton, North Carolina {{defensiveback-1960s-stub