Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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• Special to The Gamecock Brad towards starred as a defensive back for the Gamecocks from 1984-87. Edwards returns to roots as assistant athletics director By Todd Money Sports Editor After a football career that began colle giately at USC and spanned 14 years, Brad Edwards has come back home. Edwards, who played mostly defensive back during his time in Columbia and then with four NFL teams, was hired by his alma mater in July as assistant athlet ics director. For Edwards, the move was a natural. He first became interested in the job while toiling with a couple of sports ven tures in his home of Fayetteville, N.C. Edward^ was involved with a minor-league hockey franchise there and more recently was working with a group of investors to bring an indoor pro football team to the city. Through those outlets, he decided he wanted to stick with athletics as a career. “When this position opened up, and we started talking about it, it just really made sense,” he said. “It’s a place I love; it’s a place I’ve supported for a long time in terms of a fan’s standpoint.” For now, his position mainly involves managing fund-raising and charitable giv ing efforts for the athletic department, along with tenant relations for Carolina Coliseum. Just weeks on the job, Edwards admitted that many of his responsibilities, as well as university projects, aren’t yet clear to him. I “Right now, I’m just being a sponge and soaking it all in,” he said. He’s definitely excited about the chal lenge, however. He said the school already has a strong tradition of annual giving. And he wants to bring the same type of motivation to the job that he woke up with every day as a player. “Just like in football, it is all about the way you approach it,” Edwards said. “The attitude, the effort, the enthusiasm - if you get up in the morning and you’re great at those things, you’ll be in the top 25 per cent of what you do no matter what you’re in.” Edwards certainly saw his share of suc cess on the playing field, even if he wasn’t always a major part of it. He was a freshman during Carolina’s 10-2 season in 1984, playing mostly on special teams. But he recalls it like anyone else who was on that squad. “I’d never seen anything like that - the attention and excitement that was gener ated over that season,” he said. “At the end of it, I just kind of felt like that’s how it was every year, you know - that’s how it was supposed to be.” The experience of going to Notre Dame that year, after the Gamecocks were already 4-0, still sticks out in his mind. “I will never forget lining up for the opening kickoff,” he said, “and looking around and going, ‘This is just too good. If I don’t ever play a play after this, this was great just being here.’” When Edwards and his teammates got back to the airport in Columbia that night, they had an “enormous” group of fans waiting for them, he remembers. “It was one of the most amazing feelings in my life, just how much those people appreciated us,” he said. And though that level of support came at probably the highest point of USC’s football program, Edwards said going through an eventual championship season with the Washington Redskins in 1992 was the biggest moment of his career. “That was a whole different experience, that whole season,” he said. “We really were about two series away from being undefeated that year.” Edwards was a pivotal player in the Super Bowl for Washington, making two interceptions. “That game was just an amazing experi ence, the fact that I’d been close so many times in my life. It seemed like everything just came together in that magical season for me and a group of guys,” he said. He’s still in contact with many of those former teammates, both from USC and the NFL. Edwards intends to use what he’s learned from them in his new career. “It still comes down to communication and paying that painstaking attention to detail,” he said. “You make people feel good about what they’re giving to.” I | BRAD EDWARDS_ “I’d never seen anything like that — the attention and excite ment that was generated over that season. At the end of it, I just kind of felt like that’s how it was every year, you know — that’s how it was supposed to be.” Brad Edwards USC assistant athletics director Comfort Inn North Raleigh 2910 Capitol Boulevard Raleigh, NC 27604 919-878-9550 Rates from $48.00 Hampton Inn Cary 201 Asheville Avenue Cary, NC 27511 919-859-5559 Rates from $55.00 Hilton Garden Inn' Haleigh-l )u rha m Ai r|>ort Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh-Durham Airport 1500 RDU Center Drive Morrisville, NC 27560 919-840-8088 Rates from $65.00 • All hotels include a complimentary deluxe breakfast in room rate, tax is additional. Please reference the Gamecock Rate when making your reservation. • All hotels are within eight miles of NC State University. Homewood Suites Crabtree 5400 Edwards Mill Road Raleigh, NC 27612 919-785-1131 Rates from $65.00 Homewood Suites Cary 100 MacAlyson Court Cary, NC 27511 919-467-4444 Rates from $65.00