It turned out to be Buffalo. And Buffalo has turned out to be good.
"I wouldn't have changed anything about it," Edwards said Wednesday by phone.
He meant his employment with the Buffalo Bills, not the miserable loss in the snow to the Cleveland Browns two weeks ago. Yet his mere presence on the field that day was remarkable. Edwards' injury-battered career at Stanford caused him to fall into the third round of last spring's NFL draft. But in doing so, he landed in the perfect situation - one that has allowed him to become an NFL starter at 24.
When you consider the journey Edwards has taken and the way he has taken it - never complaining at Stanford through pain and disastrous coaching changes, while doing uncommon community work - it is no upset that the Mercury News has selected him as our annual South Bay Sports Person of the Year.
We've been doing this since 2001, after I realized that the South Bay was developing a sports identity of its own, apart from the larger universe of Northern California. I figured it would be a good idea to honor a local athlete or coach who best exemplifies and represents our area, on and off the field.
Every year, we have many excellent candidates. That was also the case this time. Any of our
five other nominees - Dick Davey, Mark Grieb, Joe Thornton, Troy Tulowitzki and Candice Wiggins - would have been a fine choice for this year's South Bay SPOTY. But after examining Edwards' body of work, it was difficult to select anyone else.Is there another local high-profile athlete who has provided a better example of staying loyal and persevering through ridiculously tough seasons and revolving-door coaching staffs? I don't think so.
Edwards was one of the nation's most sought-after high school quarterbacks while at Los Gatos. He was initially recruited at Stanford by Tyrone Willingham, then played for Buddy Teevens and Walt Harris - through four seasons that resulted in a 14-31 record.
If one word could sum up Edwards' college career, it would be: Ouch. With shaky pass protection and an iffy running game, he always seemed to be under siege or flat on his back. He injured his shoulder as a freshman and sophomore, broke his ankle as a senior and surely thought of transferring once or twice, right?
"Never," Edwards said. "It's not my personality. I am not a transfer-type person."
His lowest and most challenging college moment, Edwards said, occurred at the end of his junior season. The Cardinal was 5-4 and needed a victory over Cal or Notre Dame to become bowl-eligible. Stanford lost both games, including a final-minute heartbreaker to the Fighting Irish.
"It was tough," Edwards acknowledged. "The funny thing, though, is that you learn a lot about people through those tough times and tough seasons. You learn what kind of people can handle different things. That experience at Stanford served me well. It helps me here, too, as we are going through a season like this one. I can pick up on who are the winners and losers on the team."
Edwards began the 2007 season as a backup to Bills starter J.P. Losman. But after Losman suffered a knee injury, Edwards replaced him and has built a 5-3 record as the starter in Buffalo's 7-8 season. He engineered a comeback victory over Washington, threw four touchdown passes against Miami and had Buffalo in unexpected playoff contention until that loss in Cleveland 12 days ago.
That defeat and last week's loss to the New York Giants ate him up, but he's keeping things in perspective.
"I'm happy to be here," Edwards said, "and playing on Sundays."
Edwards, who owns a political science degree, learned something else at Stanford. He learned that even when you're injured, you can help others. He has been heavily involved with the Charlie Wedemeyer Family Outreach foundation, centered on the South Bay's most inspirational athletic figure.
Wedemeyer, the former Los Gatos football coach, has lived with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) for more than two decades. He and his wife, Lucy, have raised thousands of dollars for youth scholarships. Edwards first volunteered at a Wedemeyer fundraising function as a high school freshman. As his fame grew, he took a larger role and even auctioned off a personal "quarterback camp" for the foundation.
"He was always on call to do whatever we needed," said Carri Wedemeyer, Charlie's daughter.
Edwards credits his parents, Fran and Andy, and sisters Shelby and Megan for keeping his head centered. Shelby has moved to Buffalo and is assisting him during the usual body blow of rookie adjustments - learning to handle finances, film study, distractions, house-buying, autograph seekers, etc.
Yet from the moment Edwards showed up in the Bills' locker room, he was thinking of his old stamping grounds. One of his first moves was to round up 50 or so pairs of cleats and send them to his high school team. He also volunteered at a blood drive and helped his fellow rookies raise money for a local hospital. On Christmas Day, he and Shelby spent a few hours at a downtown Buffalo soup kitchen serving meals.
"My family has always had that pay-it-forward mentality," Edwards said. "We were just there to help people."
That's not a requirement for a South Bay SPOTY. But it is worth saluting. Through his painful Stanford years, Edwards never thought of bailing out and never lost sight of what really matters. We can all learn something from that. Buffalo is lucky enough to be getting the lesson up close and personal