Ray Edwards (American football)

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 (age 39) 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
Minnesota Vikings (2006–2010) Atlanta Falcons (2011–2012)
Career highlights and awards
Sporting News All-Freshman team (2003)
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles: 223 Sacks: 33.0 Forced fumbles: 4 Fumble recoveries: 6 Pass deflections: 15 Defensive touchdowns: 1
Player stats at NFL.com  ·  PFR

Ray Edwards
Born	Raymond James Edwards Jr.
Nationality	American
Other names	Monk
Statistics
Weight class	Heavyweight
Boxing record
Total fights	14
Wins	12
Wins by KO	7
Losses	1
Draws	1

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

Early life

Edwards attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati and was a student and a letterman in football and basketball. In football, he was a two-year starter and posted 20.0 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

Height	Weight	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 4+3⁄4 in (1.95 m)	273 lb (124 kg)	4.82 s	1.61 s	2.77 s	4.57 s	7.71 s	39 in (0.99 m)	9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)	30 reps
All values from NFL Combine. [1]

Minnesota Vikings

Edwards was selected 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]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Tackles					Interceptions					Fumbles
		GP	GS	Cmb	Solo	Ast	Sck	TFL	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	FR	Yds	TD
2006	MIN	15	2	10	7	3	3.0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
2007	MIN	12	11	30	26	4	5.0	7	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	9	1
2008	MIN	15	15	53	34	19	5.0	12	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0
2009	MIN	16	16	51	43	8	8.5	15	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	0
2010	MIN	14	14	37	28	9	8.0	9	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0
2011	ATL	16	16	33	24	9	3.5	6	0	0	0	0	3	0	2	64	0
2012	ATL	9	4	9	6	3	0.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	26	0
		97	78	223	168	55	33.0	53	0	0	0	0	15	4	6	99	1

Playoffs

Year	Team	Games		Tackles					Interceptions					Fumbles
		GP	GS	Cmb	Solo	Ast	Sck	TFL	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	FR	Yds	TD
2009	MIN	2	2	10	10	0	4.0	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
2011	ATL	1	1	2	2	0	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
		3	3	12	12	0	4.0	5	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

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's 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.

Professional boxing record

12 Wins (7 knockouts, 5 decisions), 1 Losses, 1 Draws [8]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	12-1-1	Keenan "Good Burger" Hickman	KO	4 (6) 2:55	2016-11-26	Firebird Athletic Complex, Bedford, Ohio	[9]
Win	12-0-1	Daniel Pasciolla	UD	6	2016-09-15	2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	[10]
Win	11-0-1	Steven Tyner	KO	2 (4) 2:14	2016-08-26	The Cabooze, Minneapolis, Minnesota	[11]
Draw	10-0-1	Grover Young	SD	4	2015-11-25	Bayfront Convention Center, Erie, Pennsylvania	[12]
Win	10-0-0	Efren "Doc" Brown	TKO	2 (4) 1:29	2015-06-27	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis, Indiana	[13]
Win	9–0	Brandon "Sizzler" Spencer	UD	6	2014-09-27	Performance Arts Center, Dearborn, Michigan	[14]
Win	8–0	D. J. "Don't get me confused with DL" Hughley	TKO	4 (4), 0:47	2014-08-16	Carole Heafner Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Win	7–0	Sam "I Am" Coming	KO	2 (4), 0:53	2014-05-16	Henry Ford College, Dearborn, Michigan
Win	6–0	Raymuendo Lopez	UD	4	2014-04-19	Henry Ford College, Dearborn, Michigan
Win	5–0	Alex Rozman	UD	4	2014-01-24	Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota
Win	4–0	"Mini" Van Goodman	TKO	3 (4), 0:30	2013-03-15	Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota
Win	3–0	Nick "Turbo Tax" Capes	KO	1 (4), 0:29	2013-02-09	Red River Valley Fairgrounds, West Fargo, North Dakota
Win	2–0	Cory "Spare Tire" Briggs	KO	1 (4), 0:41	2013-01-15	Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota
Win	1–0	Tyrone Gibson	UD	4	2011-05-20	Grand Casino, Hinckley, Minnesota	Professional debut.

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 ^{[ dead link ]}
12. http://boxrec.com/bout/2021379 ^{[ dead link ]}
13. http://boxrec.com/bout/1988766 ^{[ dead link ]}
14. http://boxrec.com/bout/1925485 ^{[ dead link ]}

External links

• Minnesota Vikings bio Archived 2010-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
• Boxing record for Ray Edwards from BoxRec (registration required)