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.

This article is about the football player. For the United States Marine Corps Silver Star recipient, see Ray K. Edwards. For the United States Navy ship, see USS Ray K. Edwards (APD-96).
Ray Edwards
No. 91, 93
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1985-01-01) January 1, 1985
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:268 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school:Woodward
(Cincinnati, Ohio)
College:Purdue
NFL Draft:2006 / Round: 4 / Pick: 127
Career history
Career highlights and awards
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 nameRaymond James Edwards Jr.
Nickname(s)Monk
Weight classHeavyweight
NationalityUnited States American
Boxing record
Total fights14
Wins12
Wins by KO7
Losses1
Draws1

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 to 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 measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 4+3⁄4 in
(1.95 m)		 273 lb
(124 kg)		 4.82 s1.61 s2.77 s4.57 s7.71 s39 in
(0.99 m)		9 ft 6 in
(2.90 m)		30 reps
All values from NFL Combine.[1]

Minnesota Vikings

Edwards was drafted as the 127th pick (fourth 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]

Catfish

In a 2020 episode of Catfish: The TV Show, hosts Nev Schulman and Kamie Crawford discover that the catfish they are tracking down in the episode used Edwards photos in his fake Instagram account, along with two other men's photos.[7]

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.

References
  1. "*Ray Edwards, DS #9 DE, Purdue". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  2. "2006 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  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. "'You're a bamboolizing, lying bastard': Catfish's first virtual episode featured plenty of vitriol". MTV.com.
  8. "Ray Edwards - Boxer". Archived from the original on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
  9. "Keenan Hickman vs. Ray Edwards - BoxRec".
  10. "BoxRec: Ray Edwards".
  11. http://boxrec.com/bout/2099254
  12. http://boxrec.com/bout/2021379
  13. http://boxrec.com/bout/1988766
  14. http://boxrec.com/bout/1925485
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