2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Edward Nelson, SS/OLB, Morehouse College
- Name: Edward Nelson
- Height: 6’1
- Weight: 200
- Position: SS/OLB
- School: Morehouse College
- Twitter: @S2n_Boonie
Tell us about your hometown, and what you love most about it?
• I’m from a small town called Chester, PA. Chester is a city that is riddled with crime and poverty, and year in and year out we make it on the US most dangerous list for murders per capita, but what I love most is that the bad headlines don’t define us. We have a saying “What Chester makes, Makes Chester” it is full of people with pride to be from there, and you learn resiliency and by being exposed to different things that the average kid isn’t exposed to you learn to grow up and handle life more preciously at a young age. It is truly a place where “if i can make it here, I can make it anywhere” and that is what i love most about my city.
List these three in order of importance and why: Film Study, Strength and Conditioning and Practice?
• Strength and Conditioning, Practice and film in my opinion because you have to be in top physical shape to even compete at a high level, practice next because you always have to perfect your craft and you have to master your game plan before you can work on someone else’s, and film because if you know what the opponent is doing and where the ball is going it makes making plays easier.
What do you worry about, and why?
• I worry myself about being successful, I don’t put a monetary tag on success, but making sure my family is comfortable and somehow create generation wealth. Whether the wealth is money, or wealth of knowledge, I want to be wealthy. Also I always worry myself thinking about the safety of my loved ones who weren’t blessed with the opportunities that I was blessed with, I want to remain an example to them and make sure I’m doing enough outreach and service in whatever community that I’m in and especially my at home community. I stay on myself to never be too busy to just go check in and remain visible to my loved ones and the people that look up to me.
Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure?
• An example of me feeling like I failed at something is missing the mark to bring a championship to my school during my tenure on the team. I reacted by competing every game at the best of my ability and never stopping competing no matter how the season was going.
What do your teammates say is your best quality?
• My teammates would all agree that my best quality is my leadership abilities. I was blessed enough to be unanimously voted team captain for my senior year and that just speaks to my high energy and my high volume and ability to make plays. I’m a guy that is always around the ball and when I make a play I bring energy to the whole team, offense and defense I use my leadership to play inspirational football.
Who is the best player you have ever played against in college?
• There isn’t a specific best player I’ve played against, but I can say Tuskegee university is always our toughest opponent and that is when I always have my best game, our rivalry brings the best out of each team, so that is the program that gets the most respect from me out of my college career.
What would your career be if you couldn’t play football?
• If I couldn’t play football I would be a teacher or professor, I’m a Gates Scholar so Bill Gates will pay for me to matriculate through school and get my doctorate degree, I’ll end up being a professor after football is all over. I feel like education is imperative and good teachers can fix the the world, in my opinion you can never get so smart that you should stop learning so I would love to help people in their learning process.
Room, desk and car – which do you clean first?
• I clean my room every single morning after I wake up and say my prayers. I’m a very neat person and I can’t operate if my space is messy, i feel like my room is my sanctuary and serves as the primary place that I talk to god so definitely room first, then car, then desk.
If there was a disaster and you could either save three strangers or one family member, which would you choose and why?
• I would choose to save one family member, I love people but I love family even more. I grew up and was blessed enough to live a part of my life growing in the same house as all of my siblings and cousins and we were like one big group of brothers and sisters so that is responsible for how high of a regard I hold family.
If you could be any television or movie character, who would you be and why?
• If I could be a movie character, I would be Rocky. I would be Rocky because I’m not too far from where that was filmed and just the whole idea of being a hometown hero, winning in your hometown, losing in your hometown and everything you do not being for self but for your family and for the inspiration of others in a place that you actually came from.
Tell me about your biggest adversity in life and how you’ve dealt with or overcome it?
• My biggest adversity was dealing with the death of my grandmother my junior year of high-school. She lost a battle with Alzheimer’s. I wasn’t educated on the term then but now i know I was in a deep state of depression, because I just wasn’t ready to live without her yet. On the day of her funeral I had a game and i played one of the best games of my life, since she’s been gone i pray more and I do simple things like stay in touch and tell my family I love them daily because you never know when the last time will be. I also pledged that if I ever had the financial means to do so I would invest in Alzheimer’s research.
What is your most embarrassing moment?
• My most embarrassing moment was one time in highschool I slipped on some food in the cafeteria and the whole lunch room saw it and laughed.
What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?
• My most memorable play was playing Tuskegee junior year in triple over time and having a goal line stop on 4th and 1 to win the game an break a 10+ year losing streak, also to cap a 6-0 start, the best start in school history.
What song best describes your work ethic?
• The song that best describes my work ethic is Either Dreams and Nightmares by Meek Mill, “War Baby” by Roddy Ricch or “More Ready than ever” by Yo Gotti
What is the most important trait you can have (Physical or Non-Physical) to help you succeed at the next level?
• The most important trait to me is work ethic and good character traits, in order to succeed in any thing you have to be willing to put in the work to be great and I’m a guy that believes that character takes you a long way you have to be a good person and do right by people for people to take a chance on you.
If you could bring one person back from the dead for one day, who would it be and why?
• I would bring back my grandmother just to have a few more moments with her so she could see how far I’ve came since we last spoke and so she could just give me a few more words of wisdom as I’ve been clinging on to the many things she’s told me since the day she died.
If you were to open a dance club, what would you name it?
• Luxe Lounge”
Who is the most underrated player in the NFL?
• Russell Wilson
Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?
• I would rather be respected, respect goes a long way, people can dislike you and still have respect for you. Respect is when people hold your character in high regard, and that’s what i value over everything.
What player who had his career derailed by off-field issues do you feel for the most and why?
• Plaxico Burress, he was one of my favorite receivers growing up and I was sad at the way his career needed.
Do you love to win, or hate to lose?
• I love to win, I love to win because even when you take a loss you can learn a lesson from it and apply it to win the next time.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?
•My parents are my biggest influences. They weren’t together while i was growing up but they both separately did what they could to make us respectful, smart and showed us the difference between “wants” and “needs”, they would go to any extent to make sure we had what we needed, my father showed me a lot of things growing up that made up my moral compass and how I view life and ultimately makes me different and more advanced than my peers, my mother taught me the importance of hustle and that no feat is too big to be conquered.
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