Braylon Edwards had 11 receptions, 189 yards and three touchdowns on October 30th, 2004. It’s day he said he’ll never forget.
“You look at the defense, we gave up a lot of yards, but when we needed them, they came up big,” Edwards said. “Mike Hart running the ball, Chad Henne doing what he did as a freshman. It was a great team win.”
The Wolverines were down 17 points in the 4th quarter. Edwards said he told the coaches he wanted the ball. Coach Lloyd Carr agreed.
“That’s all Llyod would say, ‘put the ball up, throw it in his area. Throw the damn ball to Edwards,’” Edwards said of Carr’s sideline comments.
Young Chad Henne did just that. First, it was a 37-yard touchdown to Edwards, then he threw a 22-yard touchdown, and finally one in triple overtime.
“Finally ran zone coverage, the middle of the field wide open and I floated into endzone untouched,” Edwards said of the play.
Edwards calls the win one of the biggest in Michigan Football history.
“At my dad’s house, I have the cleats from the game and the name plate from the locker room,” Edwards said.
These days, the former NFL player is quarantining with family locally, working out and reading a lot. His passion is raising money for Happines2others, a non-profit organization.
“I work in the space of mental health and addiction awareness and I got to addiction centers,” Edwards said. “They are first responders and they need PPE as well. I teamed up with Happiness 2 Others and what we’re doing is raising money for personal protection equipment for the Michigan recovery community.”
Happiness 2 Others is matching donations Edwards receives. The NFL is matching the total donation. A lot of money could be raised for a good cause.