Edwards has super opportunity

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS--New Madrid native Trey Edwards spends his Saturdays roaming the sidelines of Ole Miss football games as equipment manager, but the scenery changed this summer for Edwards as he headed north to Indianapolis.

Edwards was asked by a graduate assistant at the University of Mississippi if he'd like to be a summer intern for a pro football team, and he jumped at the offer.

"We put a call in to three teams," Edwards said. "I got a call back from the (Indianapolis) Colts first. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders were the other two teams."

Edwards, who is a ball runner on the sidelines during the Ole Miss games, had the "chance of a lifetime" as he put it, to work for the Super Bowl champs.

"It was just unbelievable to watch the practices," he said. "I got to meet all of the guys. They were all really great to meet and they were good guys."

Edwards said his day-to-day duties included setting up practices, doing laundry and getting to help out with the drills.

"You have to work hard at it," he said. "It's tough to get a job right out of college with a big team. There's only a few spots for each team in the league."

Edwards interned with the club from May 15 through June 16 at Indianapolis, Ind., then went back to Terre Haute, Ind., from July 19 through Aug. 18 for the Colts training camp.

"My internship was just a summer internship," he said. "There are opportunities for summer internships or year-long internships."

Edwards, now in his fifth year at Ole Miss, has been an equipment manager since his junior year at the school. He says his main priority at Ole Miss, is being the head of the game gloves and being a ball-runner during the games.

He says he is weighing all of his options for his future and that the internships look good on job resumes.

"Now, I could probably get on somewhere with a year-long internship," he said. "I've got a good reference from the Colts."

"In the end, I would like to get a job with a pro team of course," he added. "But, getting on with a college would be fine with me, too."

Edwards graduated from New Madrid County Central in 2003.

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