Booker Tyrone Edgerson (born July 5, 1939) is an American former professional footbal player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

in the American Football League (AFL) and

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). He played college football for the

Western Illinois Leathernecks The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois, in NCAA Division I sports. The school's primary conference affiliation is with the Summit League; its football ...

. He became a cornerstone of the AFL's Buffalo Bills' defense in the mid-1960s, at left cornerback. A four-year letterman (football,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

); in 1959 and 1960, he led the

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

(WIU) football team to the only consecutive undefeated seasons in school history, and is in the WIU Hall of Fame. Booker was born in

Baxter County, Arkansas Baxter County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 41,627. The county seat is Mountain Home. It is Arkansas's 66th county, formed on March 24, 1873, and named for Elisha Baxter, the tent ...

. He signed as a free agent with the Bills in 1962 and stepped into a starting role at left cornerback. He made a career-high six

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s (including two in his first game, against Hall of Famer

George Blanda George Frederick Blanda (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was an American football placekicker and quarterback who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda played 26 seaso ...

), and was named to the AFL All-Rookie team. Edgerson's college background as a sprinter and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er served him well in the demanding role of man-to-man pass coverage. The AFL featured many dangerous receivers at that time including

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed “Bambi”, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) an ...

. But Edgerson became one of the key components of the league's best defense, and he was the only man ever to catch Alworth from behind in a game. Edgerson appeared in playoffs four consecutive years, and in three straight

AFL Championship For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

games. The Bills beat the San Diego Chargers in 1964 and again in 1965, when Edgerson was selected as an American Football League All-Star. Edgerson had 23 interceptions in his eight-year career in Buffalo, and scored on two, including one against Joe Namath. He also forced and returned a fumble for the deciding score in a 1969 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, played in

blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...

conditions. Edgerson retired to Buffalo, where he has been involved in numerous charitable endeavors through the Bills Alumni, and was the 1993 recipient of the Ralph C. Wilson Award. He is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Edgerson was selected to be the 2010

Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame 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. T ...

inductee where his name was revealed during a halftime ceremony on October 3 during the Bills game against AFC rival New York Jets. Edgerson wrote the foreword to ''The Cookie That Did Not Crumble'', the autobiography of his former teammate,

Cookie Gilchrist Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist (May 25, 1935 – January 10, 2011) was an American football player who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Career A star player at Har-Brack High S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgerson, Booker 1939 births Living people American football cornerbacks Buffalo Bills players Denver Broncos players Western Illinois Leathernecks baseball players Western Illinois Leathernecks football players American Football League All-Star players People from Baxter County, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas American Football League players

See also

References