Edgerrin James

• Born: August 1, 1978
• Birthplace: Immokalee, Florida

Sport: Football

Early Life

Former professional football player Edgerrin James was born in Immokalee, Florida, a small farming community at the edge of the swampy Everglades. His mother, Julie, worked in a cafeteria. His father, Edward German, worked in the harvesting industry; his parents were not married. James grew up in impoverished circumstances. Immokalee was dependent on the seasonal fruit and vegetable crop, and money was hard to earn in the off-season. The James family had to depend on food stamps to survive.

The frequent absence of his father was only one of the struggles with which James dealt. His family was troubled by drug use and AIDS; violence and narcotics were ever-present in his immediate environment. He worked in the watermelon fields as a teenager, developing the physical strength he showed while playing Pop Warner football. His idol was the former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, and he tried to emulate Payton’s approach to the game.

James was not a diligent student in high school, but he showed his creativity by developing his own personal style. He wore his hair in dreadlocks and had his teeth capped in gold. Older family members cautioned him against appearing too rebellious, encouraging him to change his style and adopt a more conventional appearance. James persisted in doing what he wanted, however. His personal style did not affect his football performance in high school. He became a star running back and was named a Parade All-American.

The Road to Excellence

Although many colleges tried to recruit James, he felt most comfortable attending school close to home. The University of Miami had one of the nation’s leading programs during the 1980s and 1990s. The Hurricanes’ coach, Butch Davis, took a personal interest in helping James gain the academic qualifications to enter Miami, even though his standardized test scores were not high.

James made the Miami starting lineup when he was a sophomore. In the 1997–98 season, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards. He was an all-Big East selection in his sophomore and junior years. He also became an effective secondary receiver, increasing his versatility. He was well-known to local Florida fans and college football experts, but he was not a national figure at the time. He even had to share the running back position with teammates Najeh Davenport and James Jackson.

In December 1998, James, known as “the Edge,” had the game of his life against the University of California at Los Angeles. He dominated the game, running for 299 yards on 39 carries and scoring 3 touchdowns. Suddenly the world of football focused on James. Though Miami had not made a postseason appearance in his sophomore year, in 1998, the team appeared in the Micron PC Bowl, beating North Carolina State 46–23.

The Emerging Champion

The Miami program had produced numerous high draft picks over the previous two decades, but not all of them had become stars on the professional level. Despite James’s accomplishments, he was not considered the best player in the NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts, with the fourth pick, were widely expected to take University of Texas running back Ricky Williams but gambled by picking James. The Colts had earlier traded star running back Marshall Faulk to the St. Louis Rams, so James was going to play in place of a legend. The pressure on him was tremendous. General manager Bill Polian and Coach Jim Mora were confident that James could succeed.

Continuing the Story

James’s progress was momentarily impeded, though, when he and his agent were unable to agree with the Colts on a contract. Though he finally signed in August, he missed much of training camp. The Colts, therefore, did not feature him on offense during the first few weeks of the season. Soon, he became comfortable in the Colts’ offense, which was led by quarterback Peyton Manning, a second-year player who had won the Heisman Trophy, and receiver Marvin Harrison. Displaying his ability to catch the ball as well as run with it, often getting the crucial extra yard on the third down or gaining maximum yardage on first or second downs, James stunned the league’s defensive players.

The Colts stormed through the 1999–2000 season, finishing first in the American Football Conference (AFC) Eastern Division. Although some people thought the team was too young to flourish in postseason play, the Colts performed well in pressure situations. The team was favored to advance to the Super Bowl, a game in which the franchise had not played since its days in Baltimore. The team was poised to meet the St. Louis Rams and confront Faulk. However, the Tennessee Titans surprised the Colts in an AFC Divisional Championship, defeating them. There was a silver lining for James, though, as he was named NFL Rookie of the Year for 1999–2000, led the league in rushing yards with 1,553, and was named to his first Pro Bowl.

The following year, James led the league in rushing yards again with 1,709 and was named to his second consecutive Pro Bowl. However, in 2001, James tore his anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, six games into the season and did not return until the following year. The 2002 season was difficult for James because he had undergone reconstructive knee surgery and experienced numerous other injuries. The following season he returned for thirteen games and rushed for more than 1,200 yards, compiling 11 rushing touchdowns. In the 2004 season, he started all sixteen games for the Colts and earned his third Pro Bowl selection. He had a stellar season that year with 1,548 yards and 9 touchdowns. Then, in 2005, James finished fifth in the NFL and second in the AFC in rushing yards with 1,506; he scored 13 rushing touchdowns.

In 2006, the Colts traded James to the Arizona Cardinals. He left Indianapolis as the Colts’ all-time leading rusher with 9,226 yards. In 2006 and 2007, James had solid seasons, rushing for 1,159 and 1,222 yards, respectively. He became the first Cardinals running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season since Adrian Murrell in 1998. In 2006, he reached fifty 100-yard games faster than all but two other players in NFL history, doing so in 108 games. That season he became frustrated because he felt he was being underused. However, when the Cardinals went into postseason play, James went into high gear. His strong running game in the playoffs helped carry the team to the Super Bowl. They lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a thriller that many people regard as the greatest game in Super Bowl history.

In August 2009, James signed a yearlong deal with the Seattle Seahawks; however, his playing career with them ended after just seven games. He appeared in his final NFL game in November 2009 but did not formally retire until 2011. By then, he had a career total of eighty touchdowns, 12,246 rushing yards, 3,364 receiving yards, and 433 receptions to his name.

As a professional football player, James engaged in philanthropy, most notably establishing the Edgerrin James Foundation and creating a youth center in his hometown. In retirement, he became a businessman, focused on helping launch small businesses in Florida, and ran youth football camps and other events. In 2022, James’s son, Edgerton James, Jr., emerged as a star athlete in his own right on the high school basketball court.

Summary

Edgerrin James proved wrong many who doubted his ability to succeed in professional football. He proved to people that he was a star, and he did so without losing his individuality or his own sense of style. In the 2008 season, he continued to climb the NFL’s all-time rushing-yards list. He played for eleven years in all. The University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame added him to its ranks in 2009, and the four-time finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame was ultimately selected for induction in 2020.

Bibliography

Attner, Paul. “Glory Be! With Edgerrin James on Board and a Dazzling Stadium Set to Be Open, the Sun Finally Appears to Be Shining on—and Not Just in—Arizona.” The Sporting News, July 21, 2006.

Bagnato, Andrew. “Edgerrin James Says Birthday Won’t Slow Him Down.” IndyStar, July 28, 2008.

Bradley, John Ed. “Unaltered State.” Sports Illustrated 91, no. 11 (September 20, 1999): 44-51.

Chappell, Mike, et al. Tales from the Indianapolis Colts Sideline. Sports, 2004.

“Edgerrin James.” Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site, www.profootballhof.com/edgerrin-james. Accessed 6 July 2020. ‌

Eley, Jessica. “Olympia Basketball Star Paving Different Path Than Famous Father, Edgerrin James." FOX 35 Orlando, 11 Dec. 2022, www.fox35orlando.com/sports/olympia-basketball-star-paving-different-path-than-famous-father-edgerrin-james. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

Pierce, Charles P. “The Magnificent Seven.” Esquire, Sept. 2000, pp. 208–217.