Male Breakout Athlete Runner-Up: Brian Edwards

Before September, Brian Edwards was not high on the list of Harvard opponents’ concerns. In fact, he was probably way down at the bottom, below established threats like quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, wide receiver Rodney Byrnes, an ominous weather forecast and the possibility of running out of Gatorade.

But after a jaw-dropping breakout performance in his first game of the season against Holy Cross that only improved over the following nine games, you can bet that the Crimson competition is going to be looking out for Edwards before they worry about their sideline shopping lists.

After that first seven catches for 152 yards and a touchdown on Sept. 20, Edwards went on to lead all Crimson receivers by the end of the season, finishing with a total of eight TDs and 864 yards on 47 catches, as well as team-leading averages of 18.4 yards per catch and 86.4 yards per game.

This from a man who, before this season, had totaled seven catches for 118 yards and one touchdown—in his entire Harvard career. True, before 2003 he had been relegated to the bottom of a depth chart that contained stars like Carl Morris ’03 or experienced players like Kyle Cremarosa. But with the former’s graduation and the latter’s preseason broken ankle, Edwards finally got the opportunity to show what he could do.

And he simply dazzled Harvard opponents, players and fans alike with his lightning-quick speed and seemingly-impossible receptions, not to mention his almost eerie ability to avoid being tackled. In the Holy Cross game, Edwards managed to turn an under-thrown pass from Fitzpatrick into a dizzying whirl of twice-beaten defenders. When a Crusader cornerback attempted to quell the Edwards insurrection, he ended up being carried off the field on a stretcher while the Harvard junior cruised to a 42-yard gain on the play. Fitzpatrick called the game Edwards’ “coming-out party.” But the celebration didn’t end in Worcester. In the Crimson’s 28-20 upset of then-No. 10 Northeastern on Oct. 4, Edwards finished with seven catches for 180 yards and two TDs as the Huskies’ secondary was helpless to stop him. His speed garnered him an additional 53 yards on punt returns and a reverse.

“He’s got his effortless kind of grace and speed that is not something you see everyday,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy. “That’s why sometimes he makes things look easy which are really quite difficult.”

And as Edwards, in his typical effortless fashion, grabbed a stunning 79-yard touchdown reception to put the win away for Harvard in the season finale against Yale, it was clear that his anonymity was indeed a thing of the past.

That last TD catch was broadcast as part of Sportscenter’s wrapup of The Game.

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.