Cornelius Edison (born July 10, 1993) 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 ...

center who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. 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 ...

at Portland State and 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2015.

High school career

Edison attended

Curtis Senior High School Curtis Senior High School is a public high school located in University Place, Washington. Curtis Senior High School is a part of the University Place School District and the only high school in the district. The University Place school distric ...

in University Place, Washington. While there, as a junior, he earned First-team South Puget Sound league offensive and defensive line awards. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he was named Lineman of the Year in the South Puget Sound League South Division and was a First-team All-League selection as an offensive and

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He was named All-State the 2010 '' Tacoma News Tribune'' All-Area lineman.

College career

Edison attended

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

and majored in

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, as a true freshman, he appeared in three games as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. As a sophomore in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he was one of four players on offense, and six on the entire Vikings roster to start every game (11) that season. As the starting left guard, blocked for an offense that averaged 438.7 yards and 34.8 points-per-game and allowed only seven sacks all season, ranking fourth in the nation. He was named All- Big Sky Conference honorable mention. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

as a junior, for the second straight season, he started every game (12). For the season he was part of an offensive line that helped the offense set numerous season records, including season rushing (3,330), rushing average (277.7), total offense (6,486), total offense average (540.5) and rushing

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 ...

s (36). The team ranked third in the nation in rushing and total offense. The offensive line allowed just 10 sacks on 365 passes on the season. He was named Third-team All-Big Sky. As a senior in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he started all 12 games again. He was named a team co-captain. He was also named First-team All-Big Sky Conference. He also competed in the FCS National Bowl All-Star game as a starting at center. He also won the 2014

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

(FCS) Rimington Award as the nations best center in the FCS.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Prior to the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

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

. He suffered an injury prior to the draft that sidelined him for most of the season, costing him a chance to play or be on a team's

practice squad In sports, 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. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was signed to the

practice squad on November 30, 2015. On January 4, 2016, he was signed to a futures contract by the Bears. Edison was cut by the Bears on September 4, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the Bears active roster on October 24. On November 8, Edison was waived by the Bears and was re-signed to the practice squad a day later. He was promoted back to the active roster on November 15, 2016. He was released again on December 20, 2016. He re-signed to the practice squad on December 21. He was then promoted back to the active roster on December 23. On December 26, he was again waived by the Bears and signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 3, 2017. On May 11, 2017, he was waived by the Bears.

Atlanta Falcons

On May 17, 2017, Edison signed with 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 was waived on September 2, 2017.

Minnesota Vikings

On September 4, 2017, Edison was signed to 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 ...

' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 28, 2017, but was waived two days later and re-signed back to the practice squad. He was promoted back to the active roster on December 30, 2017. On September 1, 2018, Edison was waived by the Vikings and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Vikings on January 2, 2019. On August 31, 2019, Edison was released by the Vikings. Edison was drafted in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

by the Houston Roughnecks.

References

External links

Portland State Vikings bio

Chicago Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edison, Cornelius 1993 births Living people American football centers American football offensive guards Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Minnesota Vikings players People from University Place, Washington Players of American football from Washington (state) Portland State Vikings football players Sportspeople from Pomona, California Sportspeople from the Seattle metropolitan area