The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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62 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2017 BY CHRIS BALAS I t seems only yesterday that Braylon Edwards was terrorizing Big Ten secondaries with long touchdowns and chain-moving receptions. That it's been 13 years is almost hard to believe, even for U-M's former All- American wide receiver. After nine NFL seasons and a few years to decide "what's next," Ed- wards has come back home to Michi- gan. The Detroit native and 34-year- old doesn't look much older — he looks like he could still be playing, in fact, having aged well and remained in great shape. If he were to throw on his varsity jacket on campus, there's a good chance many of the students who didn't know who he was would just assume he was part of the 2017 squad. Now, though, he's just one of them, a student with a vested interest in the program he helped lead to its last Big Ten title in 2004. He announced his return to Ann Arbor via Twitter in January. "It took me 12 years; however, I fi- nally enrolled back at the University of Michigan to finish my degree," he announced. "I couldn't be happier with this hard ass schedule." He added the #SuperSenior, #Old- Man hashtags to his tweet as if to prove he'd fit right in. So far he has, and his return has made national news. TMZ and other media outlets picked up his story and gave him a chance to tell it even before he appeared at Michigan's Signing of the Stars II recruiting event in February. One thing he learned, Edwards admitted, was that the Michigan degree was as important as everyone told him it would be. "I moved in a lot of circles with a lot of millionaires, a lot of billionaires that have business ideas and concepts ,and they want to work with you," Edwards said. "They want to invite you to that circle, but that's the one thing they ask you … 'Do you have that degree?' "Football can be taken from you — my career was cut short because of a knee injury — but the degree is one of the things that can't be taken from you. I promised my mom I would get my degree. Looking at her wall, there's an empty space next to my sis- ter's degree from Bowling Green State [University]. That should be where my degree hangs, and it isn't there." That should change soon enough. Edwards only needs 24 credits to earn his bachelor 's, and he is tak- ing 14 credit hours this semester. His plan is to walk this spring and earn his diploma by completing summer courses and move on to his life's next chapter. As he noted, his course load is no cakewalk. He's enrolled in classes in Eastern History ("like a topics class on Egypt," he explained), an advanced liberal arts course that fo- cuses on life after college, women's studies and quantitative reasoning. "The classes I'm taking right now aren't really classes a lot of sports- type people take," he said. "I'm a closet nerd, taking my closet nerd classes now. "People don't really notice me un- til I walk into the Union, the book- store. When I'm around those areas I run into everybody around campus." Unlike during his playing days, Edwards is now looking forward to graduation day. "When you're here, you take for granted the education side of things," Edwards said. "Getting that diploma, wearing the hat with the tassel. You take it for granted. You just want to get to the next level. You want to get out of school. You want to get to the pros. "Now, that I'm back, I can't wait to walk across the stage, especially at Michigan Stadium." It seems apropos given all he accom- plished on the Michigan Stadium turf during his four-year career from 2001- 04. A consensus All-American in 2004, Edwards set records for career re- ceiving yards (3,541) and touchdown catches (39) and eclipsed the 1,000- yard mark in each of his last three seasons. He carried the Wolverines to a triple-overtime win over Michigan State in 2004 with 11 receptions for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Edwards brought the offense to life in the fourth quarter, first catching a long pass to set up a field goal. He out-jumped a defensive back on a 36-yard score from freshman quarter- back Chad Henne to cut it to 27-20 with 6:12 remaining, and took a 21-yarder away from another, cutting inside of him to tie it at 2:59. His 24-yarder on third-and-long in the third overtime proved to be the game-winner. His performance helped earn him Big Ten MVP honors and the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best receiver in 2004. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Former Michigan Receiver Braylon Edwards Returns To Finish His Degree Edwards, who only needs 24 credits to earn his bachelor's degree, plans to take part in graduation ceremonies this spring and will finish work on his diploma by completing summer courses. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Edwards "Football can be taken from you — my career was cut short because of a knee injury — but the degree is one of the things that can't be taken from you."