Jimmy Edwards (American football)

Jimmy Edwards (b. September 19, 1952 - d. 2002) is a former star running back for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

Early life
Edwards was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and graduated from Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City. He played college football at the Oklahoma University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Professional career
He began his professional career in the WFL in 1974 with the Birmingham Americans. He rushed for 575 yatds on 99 carries and scored 7 TDs, while also catching 11 passes and returning kickoffs. In 1975 he moved to the Shreveport Steamers, where he rushed for only 163 yards on 49 carries and scoring 3 TDs. In the short existence of the WFL Edwards was the 20th all-time leading rusher.

He starred with the Tiger-Cats from 1976 to 1978. He was an all star each season and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 1977 when he led the league in rushing with 1581 yards. This remained a team record until 2004, when Troy Davis broke it. He also rushed for 1046 yards in 1976, with 7 touchdowns, and for 800 yards in 1978. He finished in Hamilton with 3467 yards on 641 carries.

In 1979 he played 14 games with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, where he led the league in kickoff return yardage average (25.1 on 44 returns.) He also returned 33 punts, but caught only one pass and did not rush the ball.

He returned to the CFL briefly, playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1981 and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1982.