Hawaii football team lands son of former Steelers first-rounder

The son of a former NFL first-round selection has accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Hawaii football team.

Tru Edwards, a wide receiver at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, confirmed to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he will join the Rainbow Warriors this month. His father is Troy Edwards, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first choice — 13th overall — in the 1999 draft.

“I chose the school I felt the most comfortable with,” Tru Edwards said. “I felt comfortable with Hawaii.”

Edwards, a graduate of Mansfield (Texas) Legacy High, said he felt a connection with UH head coach Todd Graham, who was born and reared in the Lone Star State.

“We could relate a little bit,” Edwards said of Todd Graham. “He’s from the area where I’m living. I had good conversations with him. I felt (Hawaii) was the place.”

Edwards said he is 6 feet 3, 195 pounds, and capable of running 40 yards in sub-4.5 seconds. Navarro’s 2020 season was pushed to this spring because of the pandemic. In seven games this year, Edwards led the Bulldogs with 39 receptions for 434 yards and four touchdowns.

Edwards was born in Louisiana but moved around as his father’s career progressed. “It didn’t affect me much,” Edwards said of relocating. “I just went with the flow.”

Edwards said he began playing football at age 6. He initially was a running back but eventually switched to receiver, his father’s position. He said the elder Edwards was helpful, offering advice and playing catch. “We worked out (together) a lot,” Edwards said.

Edwards said he wears No. 16, his father’s number when he was a record-setting receiver at Louisiana Tech in the 1990s. In 1998, Troy Edwards opened his senior season with 21 catches for 405 yards against Nebraska. He finished the 1998 season with 140 receptions for 1,996 yards and 27 touchdowns. He was named a consensus All-American and winner of the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver.

Troy Edwards played three seasons with the Steelers. His rookie season was his most productive, when he caught 61 passes for 714 yards and five touchdowns. He also was with the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars during a seven-year NFL career.

Tru Edwards said his father and former running back Chris Fuamatu-Maafala are best friends. They were teammates at Pittsburgh and Jacksonville. Fuamatu-Maafala is a Saint Louis School graduate. With Jacksonville in 2003, Troy Edwards was a teammate of Hawaii-reared offensive guards Chris Naeole and Vince Manuwai.