CINCINNATI — With the big game coming up on Sunday, there are a number of players from Ohio competing on the world’s biggest stage in football. One of those is Mike Edwards- a Cincinnati kid who is competing for his second Super Bowl ring.
What You Need To Know
- Mike Edwards is a 2014 Winton Woods graduate
- The safety for the Chiefs won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2021
- His coaches, administrators and family in Cincinnati are excited to watch him play once again on the big stage
- Both his parents and one of his older sisters will be at the game cheering him on
It’s been quite the season for the Kansas City Chiefs defense, including Cincinnati native Mike Edwards. But his roots start on the Winton Woods football field.
Eric Martin, the school’s principal, and David Lumpkin, the athletic director, remember Edwards’ time as a Warrior. Martin said he remembers when coaches from Kentucky came to recruit him.
“He stopped me in the hallway and said, 'Mr. Martin, you know you got a pro in the building right now,'" Martin said. "And I’m like, 'No, high school students.' He was like, 'No, you got a pro in the building right now.' He was like Mike Edwards.”
That’s when they knew Edwards would be something special.
“Mike has led the way to a new generation of product of our kids getting there," Lumpkin said. "We now talk about those kids that are possibly NFL kids.”
“We have tons of students walking through the building who want to do great things and when you have people actually living that dream, it lets them know that it’s possible," Martin said.
His coach at Winton Woods, Andre Parker, who now coaches at Princeton, remembers Edwards as a confident kid and that he would be great at a young age.
“Between his freshman and sophomore year," Parker said of knowing Edwards was the real deal. "It was like, wow, watch him move.”
Parker said he couldn’t be more proud of Edwards and his path to, hopefully, a second Super Bowl ring.
“It’s very rare. It’s an honor to be associated with it," Parker said. "Just proud to have coached him and had that opportunity.”
And if you want to talk about pride- his older sister Mylah Edwards is bursting with it.
“Everything he’s been able to accomplish, starting at Winton Woods and just doing that for our city is big," Mylah said. "He mentions it all the time. I feel like he’s a hometown hero, you know?”
The siblings are close.
“We have matching tattoos," Mylah said. "His says my sister’s protector and mine says my brother’s keeper.”
Mike even gifting a game-worn jersey with a special message to his sister.
“To Mylah, so lucky to have you as my sister," it says. "Wouldn’t be here without you, thank you for everything.”
And while she was there for the Bucs Super Bowl win, this one is going to be that much sweeter.
“It was COVID, so I was the only one that was able to go down at the time," Mylah said. "But this time will be different. I’ll be with my parents and we all can just share that moment with him. I just can’t wait to celebrate him.”
She won’t be the only Edwards fan from Cincinnati come Sunday.
“I’m definitely a Mike Edwards fan this weekend," Martin said.
“I expect him to play really, really well," Parker said. "I expect him to win. I’ll be rooting for him.”