Earlier this week 79 students found out that a promise made to them six years ago, was about to be made good. Back in 2005, when these students were in the eighth grade, they were promised that if they could graduate from high school with a 2.5 GPA or higher, and 15 accumulative hours of community service, they would be given a $10,000 scholarship to be put towards their post-secondary school education. How is this possible? Can it be a Christmas miracle? Well, to these kids maybe. But in reality it’s just one man, with a big heart, making good on a promise.
Back in 2005, when Saint Edwards, or Braylon Edwards (as he’s more commonly known) was a rookie for the Cleveland Browns, he promised 100 Cleveland area eighth graders that he would give them each $10,000 for their College education if they met the above criteria. The high schools in that area have only a 50% graduation rate. But amazingly 79% of the kids Braylon inspired, managed to get their high school diploma. So in this case, that’s 29 extra kids that now have a brighter future. I can’t think of a more compelling story at this time of year, and it only gets better.
Mr. Edwards, who hasn’t played for the Browns in two years, is now with the San Francisco 49ers, and only making a base salary of 1 million dollars. Which is still a lot of money, except when you find out that you have to give $790,000 of it away, which is $290,000 more than expected. So what did Braylon do when he found out? He did what any saint would do, he reached deeper into his pocket. Braylon was so ecstatic at the level of commitment these students had towards their education, he used what was left of his salary to buy all 79 students laptops and other supplies to help them work their way through college.
When asked about his generosity, Braylon simply smiled and said, “ I’m supposed to give people a chance like I was given a chance”. Very humble words from a man that has given so many people so much. Braylon’s mother also played a big part in starting the “Advance 100” program. The way she sees it, their family was blessed with Braylon’s football abilities, and felt that it is only right to help out others with their good fortune. Not only did the Edwards family help out those students, and many more students to come with the continued support of their program; they also inspired people around the world with their story of generosity.
Kudos, Mr. Edwards. Kudos.
…and that is the last word
