by Joshua Hudson | Staff Writer, Maryland Community Newspapers Online (December 11, 2008)
Delwyn Garnett still remembers the phone call he received his senior year at Parkdale High School.
The fullback/inside linebacker was told he was too short to play football at the college level. That all changed when he received an offer to play for Morgan State University.
But that offer may have never happened if it wasn’t for Andrew Edwards.
“He took us on a bus trip to North Carolina A&T and told us to give him copies of our tapes and test scores,” said Garnett, who graduated from Parkdale in 1991. “It was only in a matter of weeks when he called me and told me I could be a Morgan State Bear.”
Edwards has helped more than 6,000 student athletes receive more than $37 million in scholarship money through the Academic Empowerment Foundation, Inc. Now several hundred more student-athletes will get a chance to impress college recruiters at the foundation’s biggest event, the 19th annual Pigskin Jamboree and Financial Aid Workshop at 8 a.m. on Saturday at the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Washington.
The idea for the event came when Edwards was looking to get a scholarship for his son, Ron. He went on the road and got his son a scholarship to North Carolina A&T. Ron Edwards graduated from North Carolina A&T in 1994 and was drafted by the then-Los Angeles Rams in the sixth round.
It was the difficulty of getting his son a scholarship that led Andrew Edwards to create the AEF and the Pigskin Jamboree.
“The intent was to give every student in Prince George’s County a chance at getting a scholarship,” said Andrew Edwards, who retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1986. “We have a unique program that’s sanctioned by the NCAA where kids can meet with college recruiters all over the country. It’s a one-stop shopping center.”
That one-stop shopping center has also helped the parents learn some of the processes they have to go through to help their children get into college.
Prince George’s Community College helps parents with financial aid questions during a free workshop at the Pigskin Jamboree. Andrew Edwards said the Jamboree has helped more than 4,000 parents learn what paperwork needs to be filed and by what deadlines.
“I see this helping people out and parents telling other parents about the help they received,” Ron Edwards said. “It really tells the parents what they need to be doing.”
The Pigskin Jamboree precedes the annual Prince George’s County vs. Southern Maryland Athletic Conference All-Star game at Henry A. Wise High School. Andrew Edwards said the reason the Pigskin Jamboree is held the same day as the game is because the early contact period with coaches and recruiters runs until Dec. 20.
For information or to register for the Pigskin Jamboree and Financial Aid Workshop, visit www.pigskinjamboreeworkshop.org
E-mail Joshua Hudson at jhudson@gazette.net
Link: Gazette.net: Pigskin Jamboree brings coaches, players together
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