Football, life a family affair for Tremaine Edmunds

Mature beyond his years, Terrell became the second youngest player to be drafted in NFL history. After declaring for the draft following his junior year at Virginia Tech, he was 19 years 11 months 24 days old when he was picked by the Bills.

As a 20-year-old rookie, Edmunds became the youngest NFL player to intercept a pass. A year later, he was voted a captain by his Bills teammates.

Edmunds, who signed a four-year contract with the Bears last Thursday, started all 74 games he played in his five seasons in Buffalo, registering 565 tackles, 32 tackles-for-loss, 6.5 sacks, five interceptions and two forced fumbles. The 6-5, 250-pounder recorded at least 100 tackles in each of his five years and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2020.

Those numbers no doubt are impressive. But the life lessons that Edmunds learned from his parents extend well beyond football. Growing up, he and his brothers shared their home with 16 foster children through the years.

“It just lets you see stuff from a different perspective,” Tremaine said. “Be grateful for the little things. Just seeing them and being able to see how you could change people’s lives, that means a lot. Seeing how my family was able to affect somebody else means a lot to me; just knowing that we put a smile on their face and trying to help better somebody’s life.”

The kindness and empathy he learned from his parents shaped Edmunds—and will continue to impact him long after he retires from the NFL.

“That’s me,” he said. “Because once football is taken away from you, you’ve got to stand for something. If your whole identity is just football and you don’t know who you are as a person, it’s going to be hard to navigate through this thing called life.”