Edwards goes from working on cars to Storm receiver

By Keith Niebuhr, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, May 9, 2008

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ADVERTISEMENT The Storm discovered Hank Edwards when he tried out for af2 via a reality TV show.

TAMPA — Hank Edwards went to work in an auto repair shop in West Palm Beach for his father not long after his playing career at Texas Southern ended. His job was to perform oil changes and install brakes, but once in a while, he was allowed to do the big stuff.

"Occasionally," Edwards said, "my dad let me rebuild some transmissions."

The job was taxing, the hours were long and nowhere in Edwards' head did he believe he would have another chance to play football.

But while messing around on her computer one day, Edwards' girlfriend, Erika Thornton, noticed producers were looking for players to be on a reality show in which participants attempted to make an af2 squad, the minor league of Arena Football.

"I didn't know anything about this Arena Football thing," Edwards, 25, confessed.

He knew enough to try out, and because of it, Edwards today leads the Storm in receiving yards (858) and touchdown catches (16).

"Honestly," Edwards said, "I feel blessed."

When Thornton found out about the tryouts, they were two weeks away. Edwards, who was working 12-hour days, hadn't run or worked out in several months and was out of shape. So he put his body through a crash course.

After making it through the first round of cuts in Fort Lauderdale, he headed to Lakeland for Round 2, where players were placed on two teams and were to have two-a-day practices for two weeks. But after only a few sessions, Edwards noticed something strange.

"I didn't see any cameras, so I was skeptical to what was going on," he said.

Edwards' instincts were correct. The plug had been pulled on the show.

"I was like, 'What am I going to do now?' " Edwards said.

As the meeting broke, Edwards was asked to stick around. Storm coach Tim Marcum, on whose team the 6-foot-3, 180-pound Edwards had been practicing, liked what he saw and wanted to sign him.

"He ran fast," Marcum said. "He was a tall kid, and he played tall. He jumped up and snatched the ball out of the air."

After spending much of last season on the practice squad, Edwards was activated when veteran T.T. Toliver abruptly quit the team. Playing big during the Storm's late-season surge, he caught 21 passes for 244 yards and seven touchdowns in four games. This spring, he has been even better.

"I didn't think he'd be as good this fast," said Marcum, who added he believes Edwards has yet to reach his potential.

Despite his ever-growing stature with the team, Edwards is still a little overwhelmed by all that has transpired: "I wouldn't trade this for anything."