Ray Edwards (American football)

Raymond James Edwards, Jr. (born January 1, 1985) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.

Ray Edwards

No. 91, 93
Position:	Defensive end
Personal information
Born:	January 1, 1985 Cincinnati, Ohio
Height:	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:	268 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school:	Cincinnati (OH) Woodward
College:	Purdue
NFL Draft:	2006 / Round: 4 / Pick: 127
Career history
Minnesota Vikings (2006–2010) Atlanta Falcons (2011–2012)
Career highlights and awards
Sporting News All-Freshman team (2003) All-Big Ten honorable mention (2004) Hendricks Award semi-finalist (2005)
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles: 224 Sacks: 33.0 Forced fumbles: 6 Fumble recoveries: 6 Pass deflections: 14 Defensive touchdowns: 1 Player stats at NFL.com

Ray Edwards
Statistics
Real name	Raymond James Edwards, Jr.
Nickname(s)	Monk
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Nationality	American
Boxing record
Total fights	14
Wins	12
Wins by KO	7
Losses	1
Draws	1

Early years

Edwards attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he was a two-year starter and posted 12.0 sacks, 110 tackles, and seven forced fumbles as a senior.

College career

Edwards played college football for three years at Big Ten school Purdue from 2003-2005. In his college career, Edwards played 36 games (starting in 18). He recorded a total of 16 sacks and received many honors including All-Freshmen team choice by The Sporting News (2003), honorable mention All-Big Ten (2004) and semifinalist for the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award (2005).

Professional career

Pre-draft measureables [1]
Height	Weight	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20 ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6-4*	273*	4.81 *	1.64 *	2.75 *	4.57 *	7.71 *	39" *	9'06" *	30 *	26 *
* represents NFL Combine

Minnesota Vikings

Edwards was drafted as the 127th pick (4th round) of the 2006 NFL draft.[2] During his rookie season, he appeared in 15 of the 16 regular season games, (the most for a Vikings rookie that year) and started in 2 of the last 4 games. He recorded 3 sacks and 10 tackles. In 2007 Edwards had 5 sacks and 30 tackles in 12 games. He scored one touchdown on a fumble recovery against Detroit. On December 5, Edwards was suspended for four games by the National Football League for a violation of the league's Steroid policy. He was not eligible to play for the remainder of the Vikings regular season.[3] In 2008 Edwards made 55 tackles and 5 sacks as the starting left defensive end after the acquisition of Jared Allen. In 2009, Edwards had a breakout year, recording 8.5 sacks, and having a strong performance against the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round of the post-season. Edwards became a restricted free agent in the 2010 offseason due to the CBA dispute instead of an unrestricted FA as he would have been if there were a labor agreement. The Vikings gave him a first-round restricted free agent tender. He signed the tender on June 14, 2010 after deciding to miss the Vikings offseason program.[4]

Atlanta Falcons

On July 29, 2011, Edwards was signed by the Atlanta Falcons to a five-year contract for 30 million dollars with 11 million dollars guaranteed. During the Falcons' 8-1 start in 2012, Edwards was largely invisible, with most of his snaps being taken by players with much lower salaries.[5]

Edwards was released by the Falcons on November 12, 2012.[6]

Boxing

Edwards made his professional boxing debut at a Minnesota casino on May 20, 2011, defeating Tyrone Gibson in a four-round bout. Edwards told the Star Tribune that he had signed a two-fight contract. His trainer was Jeff Warner, a former heavyweight boxer and pro wrestler.

Professional boxing record

References

1. TSN War Room
2. Minnesota Vikings bio
3. Edwards suspended for violating steroid policy
4. "Vikes' DE Edwards signs, Triplett gets contract". Associated Press. June 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
5. Ledbetter, D. Orlando (July 29, 2011). "Atlanta Falcons Falcons agree to 5-year deal with DE Ray Edwards". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
6. "Ray Edwards cut by Atlanta Falcons in surprise move". National Football League. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
7. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=568947&cat=boxer
8. http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Keenan_Hickman_vs._Ray_Edwards
9. http://boxrec.com/boxer/568947
10. http://boxrec.com/bout/2099254
11. http://boxrec.com/bout/2021379
12. http://boxrec.com/bout/1988766
13. http://boxrec.com/bout/1925485

External links

• Minnesota Vikings bio
• Boxing record for Ray Edwards from BoxRec