FanPost

KITTI'S KORNER: Dave Edwards 1963-1975



after being a star two way end at abbeville high in alabama dave edwards accepted a scholarship offer from nearby auburn university. earning a starting role his sophomore year edwards excelled as both a superb pass catcher and as a run stuffing defender for the tigers. after being named a all sec player he was invited to be a part of the south team for the 1962 senior bowl. it was a game that would have an effect on his entire football future. edwards drew the attention of the opposing north squards coach. that man was none other than tom landry.

dave edwards went undrafted in the nfl draft for 1963 but he was selected in the 25th round of the afl draft by the denver broncos. dave edwards however decided he would not play for the upstart denver team. his reasoning had nothing to do with the fact that the afl was considered by many to be a lower class league. he simply refused to wear a football uniform that featured vertical stripes. instead edwards reached out to the coach who had been so impressed with him a few months earlier. the dallas cowboys signed him as a free agent. the move turned out to be one of the better ones the dallas franchise made during the early years.

signed as an end edwards had put on a full 30 pounds between the senior bowl and training camp and he was soon moved to linebacker. he soon earned the starting slot on the strong side because his upper body strength allowed him to be an effective run stopped. this freed up chuck howley to move over to the weakside where he would become one of the best to ever play that position. due to his exceptional strength edwards was highly effective in jamming up tight ends and preventing them from either releasing into the pass pattern or blocking down on lee roy jordan. the three linebackers together became one of the best groups in nfl history and formed the backbone of the original doomsday defense. although he did not post the kind of numbers of jordan and howley dave edwards with his tough and consistant play made the success of his teammates possible. although the famed flex defense was one of the most complex schemes ever devised edwards rarely made mistakes in his assignments. he was the type of guy who not only cowboyed up and played hurt he generally suffered no fall off in his performance due to his injury. over a career that spanned 12 seasons dave only missed a single game. during that time he was to play in three super bowls including the cowboys first championship in super bowl vi.

after the 1975 season edwards decided the time had come for him to retire. he remains a devout cowboy fan. in fact he recently told an interviewer that he gets so intense that he has to record the game and watch them after he learns the results. it sounds to me like dave edwards is the type of fan who would fit in well here on blogging the boys. fifty years after his nfl career began he still has the same passion that allowed him to help build the legend that we all love.

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.