Armanti Edwards (10) during the game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field in Toronto, On., Thursday, June 8, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
He played in two incredibly memorable NCAA games, one he remembers vividly, the other not so much. Armanti Edwards will now try to create more memories as a receiver with the Toronto Argonauts.
A quarterback at the college level, Edwards led Appalachian State to a shocking 34-32 upset over No. 5 Michigan. The Mountaineers became the darlings of the sports world.
Though it’s coming up on the tenth anniversary of the game, Edwards still hears about it to this day.
“Definitely,” said the native of Greenwood, S.C., “When I meet people out in the world and let them know what school I went to that’s the first question they ask, were you on the team when you beat Michigan?”
How good was Edwards in college? The Walter Payton Award recognizes the most valuable player at the FCS level. Previous winners include Bo Levi Mitchell, Dave Dickenson, Tony Romo and Brian Westbrook. Edwards is the only player to win the award twice, also winning a pair of FCS championships.
The other notable game was that same season. It was the national semi-final game against Richmond, where the quarterback rushed for an astonishing 313 yards on 31 carries. He hit the 200-yard mark early in the second quarter.
“I can dream of rushing for ten percent of that,” chuckled noted scrambler Ricky Ray when that stat was mentioned.
In that game, Edwards looked like the real-life incarnation of Michael Vick in Madden 2004, a virtual cheat code. He was actually nonchalant about that afternoon.
“We were a spread offence team, typically run first,” Edwards told Argonauts.ca. “A lot of lanes broke down, I can’t remember that game much.”
Seriously?
“I just felt great that day,” said a laughing Edwards.
The lefty QB moved on to the NFL where he was drafted by the Carolina Panthers, just not as a quarterback.
“I was drafted as an athlete,” said Edwards, “But I knew going in I was going to be more of a specialist, a receiver and not a quarterback.”
The move from QB to receiver has been done before with varying degrees of success. Two former Argos quickly come to mind as players who starred at the NCAA level at quarterback but were converted in the pros.
Eric Crouch won the 2001 Heisman Trophy while running an option-oriented offence at Nebraska. The St. Louis Rams drafted him with the intention of turning him into a receiver. After that failed, Crouch came North where he once again gave quarterbacking a shot. He rarely hit the field in Toronto.
Reggie McNeal was a successful QB at Texas A&M. An all-conference pivot with the Aggies, the Cincinnati Bengals converted him to receiver. He came North to try and rejuvenate his quarterbacking career, but ended up a receiver with the Argos.
For Edwards, the change in position was not easy.
“Not at all, it was very rough,” he confessed. “If I look back three, four years I was a totally different receiver. I’m much better now. I understand the position way better than I did.”
After being released by the Panthers, Edwards tried to catch on with the Chicago Bears, lasting the off-season and training camp before again being cut. The Bears head coach at the time said it was a tough decision.”
“I think timing with players is a lot of it,” said Marc Trestman, now reunited with Edwards in Toronto. “He certainly had the ability to make our football team and the numbers just didn’t allow us to keep him. But he certainly showed that he could compete.”
“We’re excited that he’s here,” continued the coach. “He’s really a good young man with great character, great family guy and very smart. He knows what to do, where to be and how to do it, so we’re looking forward to seeing him play.”
Acquired from Saskatchewan for Peter Dyakowski just before training camp opened, the receiver is certainly happy to be reconnected with the coach.
“He’s a genius,” said Edwards of Trestman. ‘When it comes to getting players where he wants them to be, the playbook and everything. He’s a great coach, a great guy off the field and he’s still the same guy.”
The Argos starting QB has like what he has seen so far.
“We just had a good connection from the get go,” said Ray. “He’s a smart football player. He gets to the right spots and I know what to expect out of him.”
The current QB thinks the receiver’s former life as a QB has helped him with his football IQ.
“He probably thinks like a quarterback out there,” Ray explained. “So he sees what we’re seeing and he’s able to get to those spots and it gives you a lot of confidence as a quarterback that you can trust where he’s going to be.”
Edwards opened a lot of eyes in camp. He’ll have a chance to continue increasing his familiarity to non-NCAA fans when the regular season begins Sunday at BMO Field.