Tom Edwards (American football)
Thomas Leighton Edwards (December 12, 1899 – January 28, 1980) was an American football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan, where he was an All-American tackle for the Michigan Wolverines. Edward played professional football for one season, in 1926, with the New York Yankees of the American Football League and the Detroit Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Youth A native of Traverse City, Michigan, Edwards was a second generation Wolverine football player. His father, Randolph Thomas Edwards (known as R.T.), was a rusher for the 1879 Michigan Wolverines football team, the first intercollegiate football squad to represent the University of Michigan. His grandparents, Thomas Edwards and Elizabeth Harriet, immigrated to Michigan from Brownsover, Warwickshire in England, just 1.5 miles from Rugby, Warwickshire. University of Michigan Edwards attended the University of Michigan where he earned his first letter as a football player in 1924. In 1925, he played guard and tackle for the Michigan Wolverines squad that legendary coach Fielding H. Yost called "the best team I ever coached." Edwards suffered a torn ligament injury in October 1925, and started only five of Michigan's eight games in 1925. In 1925, Billy Evans wrote: "The consensus