View source for Troy Edwards

{{Short description|American football player (born 1977)}}
{{for|the American soccer player|Troy Edwards (soccer)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Troy Edwards
| image       = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size  =
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| number      = 81, 88, 18, 16
| position    = [[Wide receiver]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1977|4|7|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date  = 
| death_place = 
| height_ft   = 5
| height_in   = 10
| weight_lbs  = 195
| high_school = [[Huntington High School (Shreveport, Louisiana)|Huntington]] (Shreveport)
| college     = [[Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football|Louisiana Tech]] (1995–1998)
| draftyear   = 1999
| draftround  = 1
| draftpick   = 13
| pastteams   =
* [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] ({{NFL Year|1999}}&ndash;{{NFL Year|2001}})
* [[St. Louis Rams]] ({{NFL Year|2002}})
* [[Jacksonville Jaguars]] ({{NFL Year|2003}}&ndash;{{NFL Year|2004}})
* [[Tennessee Titans]] ({{NFL Year|2005}})*
* [[Detroit Lions]] ({{NFL Year|2005}})
* Jacksonville Jaguars ({{NFL Year|2006}})*
* [[Grand Rapids Rampage]] ([[2007 AFL season|2007]])
| highlights  =
* [[Fred Biletnikoff Award]] (1998)
* [[Touchdown Club of Columbus#Paul Warfield Award|Paul Warfield Trophy]] (1998)
* Joe Greene Great Performance Award (1999)
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1998 College Football All-America Team|1998]])
* Third-team All-American ([[1997 College Football All-America Team|1997]])
| statlabel1  = Games played
| statvalue1  = 92
| statlabel2  = [[Reception (American football)|Receptions]]
| statvalue2  = 203
| statlabel3  = [[Receiving yards]]
| statvalue3  = 2,404
| statlabel4  = [[Touchdown|Receiving touchdowns]]
| statvalue4  = 11
| pfr         = EdwaTr00
| afl         = 10352 
}}

'''Troy Edwards''' (born April 7, 1977) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[wide receiver]] for seven seasons in the [[National Football League]] (NFL).  He played [[college football]] for the [[Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football|Louisiana Tech Bulldogs]], became one of the most prolific receivers in college football history. He earned [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] honors and won the [[Fred Biletnikoff Award]]. Edwards was selected by the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] in the first round of the [[1999 NFL draft]], and played for the Steelers, [[St. Louis Rams]], [[Jacksonville Jaguars]], and [[Detroit Lions]] of the NFL. He also played for the [[Grand Rapids Rampage]] of the [[Arena Football League (1987–2008)|Arena Football League]] (AFL).

==Early life==
Edwards was born in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]].  He attended Huntington High School in Shreveport, where he played [[high school football]].

==College career==
Edwards attended Louisiana Tech University, where he played for the [[Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football]] team from 1995 to 1998.  As a senior in 1998, he was recognized as a consensus first-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] and won the [[Fred Biletnikoff Award]] as the season's outstanding college football receiver at the conclusion of the 1998 season.

In the 1998 season opener versus the [[1998 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team|Nebraska Cornhuskers]], Edwards had 21 catches for 405 yards&mdash;the most ever receiving yards in a single game by a college player.<ref>Sports Reference, College Football -- NCAA Individual Records for Receiving -- https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/leaders/records-player-receiving.html</ref>  His twenty-seven touchdown catches during his 1998 senior year remains the [[NCAA]] Division I-A season record.  He held the NCAA career record for touchdown receptions with fifty until it was broken by the [[Rice Owls football|Rice Owls]]' [[Jarett Dillard]].  His 140 single-season receptions are the third most in Division I-A history, and his 1,996 receiving yards gained during his senior season remain the second most in Division I-A history.

==Professional career==
{{NFL predraft
|    height ft = 5
|    height in = 9 1/2
|       weight = 191
|         dash = 4.57
|    ten split = 1.60
| twenty split = 2.63
|      shuttle = 4.16
|   cone drill = 7.37
|     vertical = 36.5
|     broad ft = 9
|     broad in = 10
|     arm span = 30 1/8
|    hand span = 8 1/2
|         note = All values from [[NFL Combine]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=1999 NFL Draft Scout Troy Edwards College Football Profile |url=https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=60979&DraftYear=1999 |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=DraftScout.com}}</ref>
}}

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Edwards in the first round (13th pick overall) in the [[1999 NFL draft]] after the team lost out on [[David Boston]] to the [[Arizona Cardinals]], making him the team's first draft pick from Louisiana Tech since selecting [[Pro Football Hall of Fame|Hall of Famer]] [[Terry Bradshaw]] first overall in the [[1970 NFL draft]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1999 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1999/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> Despite high expectations for Edwards, he was quickly passed on the depth chart by other receivers, including [[Plaxico Burress]] (the team's first round pick the following year) and most notably [[Hines Ward]], whom the Steelers used a 3rd round pick on the year before Edwards and was initially considered an afterthought when Edwards was drafted. This, combined with head coach [[Bill Cowher]]'s tendency to run the football, inconsistency at the quarterback position from [[Kordell Stewart]] and various backups, and a rare decline in the Steelers on-field success led to Edwards openly admitting to his unhappiness in a 2001 radio interview—a year in which the Steelers returned to [[Super Bowl]] contender status. Years later, Edwards admitted that he should have handled his time better in Pittsburgh and blamed his immaturity for failing to live up to expectations.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-nfl-features-news-blog-long-form/2016/6/29/12040612/how-former-pittsburgh-steelers-wr-troy-edwards-blames-his-own | title=One-on-One interview with WR Troy Edwards | date=29 June 2016 }}</ref>

In 2002, Edwards was traded to the St. Louis Rams, where he played a single season. He also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars in {{NFL Year|2003}} and {{NFL Year|2004}}, and the Detroit Lions in {{NFL Year|2005}}.  In seven NFL seasons, he played in ninety-two games, started twenty-two of them, caught 203 passes for 2,404 yards and eleven touchdowns, and also compiled 1,560 punt return yards.

He finished his professional football career with the [[Grand Rapids Rampage]] of the [[Arena Football League (1987–2008)|Arena Football League]] in [[2007 AFL season|2007]].

===NFL statistics===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |Year
! rowspan="2" |Team
! rowspan="2" |GP
! colspan="6" |Receiving
! colspan="6" |Rushing
! colspan="5" |Punt returns
! colspan="4" |Kickoff returns
|-
! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! FD !! Att !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! FD !! Ret !! Yds !! Lng !! TD !! FC !! Ret !! Yds !! Lng !! TD
|-
! [[1999 NFL season|1999]] || [[1999 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| '''16''' || '''61''' || '''714''' || 11.7 || 41 || '''5''' || '''42''' || — || — || — || — || — || — || '''25''' || '''234''' || '''48''' || 0 || '''4''' || 13 || 234 || 44 || 0
|-
! [[2000 NFL season|2000]] || [[2000 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 14 || 18 || 215 || 11.9 || 27 || 0 || 11 || 3 || 4 || 1.3 || 15 || 0 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 15 || 298 || 37 || 0
|-
! [[2001 NFL season|2001]] || [[2001 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| '''16''' || 19 || 283 || '''14.9''' || 57 || 0 || 12 || '''5''' || '''28''' || 5.6 || 12 || '''1''' || '''1''' || 10 || 83 || 28 || 0 || 0 || '''20''' || '''462''' || '''81''' || 0
|-
! [[2002 NFL season|2002]] || [[2002 St. Louis Rams season|STL]]
| 14 || 18 || 157 || 8.7 || 48 || 2 || 8 || 3 || 21 || '''7.0''' || '''27''' || 0 || '''1''' || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 10 || 211 || 32 || 0
|-
! [[2003 NFL season|2003]] || [[2003 Jacksonville Jaguars season|JAX]]
| 13 || 35 || 487 || 13.9 || '''84''' || 3 || 22 || 3 || -9 || -3.0 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 20 || 20 || 0
|-
! [[2004 NFL season|2004]] || [[2004 Jacksonville Jaguars season|JAX]]
| '''16''' || 50 || 533 || 10.7 || 36 || 1 || 25 || 2 || 2 || 1.0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 26 || 14 || 0 || 1 || 15 || 335 || 45 || 0
|-
! [[2005 NFL season|2005]] || [[2005 Detroit Lions season|DET]]
| 3 || 2 || 15 || 7.5 || 8 || 0 || 1 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|-
! colspan="2" |Career<ref name=ESPN>{{cite web|title=Troy Edwards Stats|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/1764/troy-edwards|website=ESPN|publisher=ESPN Internet Venutures|access-date=16 June 2014}}</ref> !! 92 !! 203 !! 2,404 !! 11.8 !! 84 !! 11 !! 121 !! 16 !! 46 !! 2.9 !! 27 !! 1 !! 3 !! 38 !! 343 !! 48 !! 0 !! 6 !! 74 !! 1,560 !! 81 !! 0
|}

==See also==
* [[List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders]]
* [[List of NCAA Division I FBS career receiving touchdowns leaders]]
* [[List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders]]
* [[List of Arena Football League and National Football League players]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fred Biletnikoff Award}}
{{1998 NCAA Division I-A College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1999 NFL Draft}}
{{SteelersFirstPick}}
{{Steelers1999DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Troy}}
[[Category:1977 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football wide receivers]]
[[Category:Detroit Lions players]]
[[Category:Grand Rapids Rampage players]]
[[Category:Jacksonville Jaguars players]]
[[Category:Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Rams players]]