Roary
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
- 1,742
- 0
Getty Images
His football career hasn’t gone as smoothly as his father’s or brother’s, but Berkley Edwards is not giving up his football dream.
According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Michigan running back Berkley Edwards is trying out for the Lions as a wide receiver at their local Pro Day.
Berkley played mostly running back and special teams in stops at Minnesota and Central Michigan, before heading to Ann Arbor as a graduate transfer. His father Stan and brother Braylon starred there before their NFL careers, but Berkley faces a longer path. Convincing his father took time, and game tape of his receiver workouts.
“I wanted him to get on with his life and leave football alone,” Stan Edwards said. “And he said, ‘Dad, I still think I can play at the next level.’ I’m like, ‘OK,’ and then when he showed me, I’m like, ‘You know what, you’re right.’
“Nothing’s a guarantee, but the amount of time and work he put in, he has improved drastically where when some folks are seeing them [films] they’re saying, ‘Well, what round do you think he’s going to get drafted in?’ I don’t know that he’s going to get drafted, but it’s interesting that you say that based on what you see today.”
Berkley spent most of his life playing running back, but thinks he can show pro scouts he belongs as a slot receiver.
“For me, starting out [playing receiver] wasn’t really natural for me at all,” he said. “I just kind of worked at it so much that I’ve gotten to the point where I was able to go against some of the top DBs in the country that I’ve gotten to play against, either at Minnesota, at Central or at Michigan, and been able to have success with them playing against them in practice. And now it’s to the point now where I know I can be a slot receiver as well as a special teams player and a running back, too, so just a versatile player.”
Edwards ran his 40-yard dashes in the low-4.3-second range at Michigan’s Pro Day, which will get him noticed as much as his family connections.