What you really want to know
Stats are cool. Maybe getting some big games out of Edwards and sticking it to the Jets is fun as well. But what you really want to know now… how did this Australian guy end up playing in the NFL?
ESPN New York profiled Edwards after he was drafted by the team. The Australian didn’t pick up an American football until around 2012… he told the world-wide leader he wasn’t good at throwing it that day, but he kicked it pretty well. This went down at a park near Ballarat University near Melbourne.
After poor throws, Edwards said he kicked it and thought he was pretty good at that. So did fate, because a professor, who ESPN names as Scott Talpey, a professor of exercise science, saw Edwards do it. From there, Edwards was recommended by the teacher to work with an Australian kick academy, which he did, and in six mouth, Sam Houston State recruited him.
Things escalated quickly for Edwards, it appears.
Prior to 2012, Edwards played rugby, cricket, and Australian football, which is kind of a bit like rugby. American football and the NFL was never on his radar.
“I don’t take it for granted,” he said. “I realize how exclusive this club is. I feel like I’m on borrowed time. I never grew up thinking this was a possibility. I’m gonna run with it for as long as I can.”
And oddly enough, when Edwards entered the NFL, he had to win a punter battle to do so. Who’d he beat out? UDFA rookie Tom Hackett from Utah, a fellow Aussie kicker from Melbourne. Small world.