Before he was an NFL Pro Bowler, former Jets, 49ers and Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards was a college star at Michigan, where he led the Wolverines, wore the school's famed number 1 jersey and epitomized the mantra of bleeding Maize and Blue. Throughout his professional career, Edwards has continued to stay loyal to his collegiate roots, even when he was starring in Cleveland while in-state power Ohio State was as popular as the Browns among locals.
Yet Edwards is suddenly far less than thrilled with his alma mater, who he feels has slighted his family by overlooking a player he thinks can contribute to the Wolverines come 2013: His brother, Chelsea (Mich.) High running back Berkley Edwards.
As first noted by AnnArbor.com, Braylon Edwards took to Twitter to air his grievance with Wolverines football coach Brady Hoke and the Michigan recruiting staff on Tuesday, citing Berkley Edwards' blistering alleged 40-yard and 60-yard dash times and his strong junior season as motivation behind his general confusion over why Michigan wasn't interested in Berkley's services.
"I don't understand how my brother has the 8th (fastest) time in the country in the 60m, ran for 1800 yards last year and 20 and UofM wontcall," Edwards Tweeted.
While Michigan reportedly retains an interest in the younger Edwards, Central Michigan is the only school to officially extend an offer to the 5-foot-8, 176-pound speedster.
The issue may not be one of interest for Michigan. Nor may it be related to Berkeley Edwards' ability to play at the collegiate level. Rather, it seems the younger Edwards is getting squeezed out by what is rapidly becoming an astonishingly deep recruiting class for the Wolverines. Michigan already holds 14 commitments in its Class of 2013, and 12 of those 14 are Rivals.com 4-star recruits (it should be noted that none of those 14 commitments are running backs, however).
By comparison, Berkley Edwards isn't even given a star rating, despite his 4.52 second 40-yard time, 1,520 yards and 18 touchdowns as a Chelsea junior.
Where that sends the rising senior remains to be seen. While it might seem like sacrilege for another member of the Edwards clan to choose Michigan State, the Spartans recently hosted Berkley for one of the schools' junior days and are allegedly keeping a close eye on his availability.
If the younger Edwards does end up in starring in a helmet that doesn't bear Michigan's iconic Wolverine stripes, no one can claim his older brother didn't warn Hoke and his cohorts.
"Love my school and I played for coach (Hoke) but call my brother before its too late and you guys miss out like Lloyd would have ifnot forsoup," Braylon Edwards tweeted.
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