It was 32 years and two weeks ago today, Jan. 26, 1992, that the then-Redskins won DC’s last football title, a Super Bowl XXVI win over the Bills (in the midst of four straight big games without a win).
Brad Edwards was a safety on that squad and spent four seasons here in DC and was, from 2014-22, back in the area as the Athletic Director at George Mason! Now, however, he’s the CEO of the NFL Alumni Association, so of course BMitch & Finlay had to catch up with him on Radio Row!
“I spent 20 years in the college space coming out of the NFL, so I was saying I'm the smartest guy in college sports when I joined the NFL Alumni Association!” Edwards laughed. “I enjoyed my time there though, and we had some amazing young people and coaches.”
Following in the footsteps, it seems, of another fellow DC football alum in ex-NFLPA exec and current Packers prez Mark Murphy?
“Mark Murphy was a guy that was out in front of me, had a similar role in Washington, and I saw that as my progression moving through administration and then maybe in some capacity back around the NFL,” Edwards said. “It was interesting; I was on the NCAA competition committee, and we had all the issues around you the transfer portal and all of that, and there was a group of us that helped draft some of the NIL legislation.”
Edwards couldn’t have believed what was to come when he was sitting in an SEC AD meeting 20 years ago, although you could start to see the seeds of maybe the top-tier schools taking over.
“The change and is happening so rapidly, and the lack of guardrails and the disparity between schools – you forget, the NCAA is an association of the members, not some mythical office,” Edwards said, “but there's so much difference between Presbyterian and Ohio State, and that’s the dilemma. I think that's what's really driving a lot of it; some people have figured out how to unlock value out of that thing.”
With things getting hairy, it was fortuitous timing that Edwards was brought on to search for the next CEO, and as it turns out, was actually the target.
“I hadn’t thought about that, but that's really interesting. I wasn't so sure at that point, but it was just kind of weird where college sports was going,” Edwards said. “I lived in the ecosystem at that point of, you know, are you banging your head against the wall if you’re not in the top half of the SEC or Big Ten.”
Take a listen above as Edwards goes deeper into his new role, looks back at his Washington days, and more!