Emmaus’ ‘Bigman’ Edwards honors family legacy with Division I football commitment

In the world of Robert “Bigman” Edwards III, everything comes big.

At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, surrounded by a large gathering of family and friends, Edwards formally signed his national letter of intent to play Division I football at the University of Richmond. For the Emmaus High School senior, it was a moment he said he had been preparing for his whole life.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “Being able to sign this, go to college for free, something I always dreamed of … it’s just a great thing and I’m really happy about this.”

The defensive edge was voted the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s Defensive MVP in 2024 after a season in which he recorded 92 tackles, including 23 for loss, and six sacks. He was joined Saturday by his mother, Leah Edwards, and his father, Robert Edwards II, whom he credits as the biggest reason for his success.

“My father worked on football with me every single day,” he said. “He made it so that one day, he knew I would be able to have this moment.”

Edwards II said he always knew his son stood out.

“He always marched to the beat of his own drum,” he said. “He did everything the right way. He always wanted to do great things.”

For the elder Edwards, the signing represents the continuation of a family legacy. His father, Robert Edwards I, was a popular Dieruff High School athlete who later became a counselor and volunteer. He was killed in an Allentown shooting on Christmas Day in 2006 at age 47.

A week later, Edwards II learned Leah was pregnant.

“I always say the reason why I’m here today is because of my son,” he said. “He gave me a reason to fight.”

A small picture of Edwards I sits in the family’s living room beside a quote: “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”

Brit Kohli, a therapist and one of Bigman’s longtime supporters, said Edwards has put his own twist on that legacy. She was friends with his grandfather, who regularly attended her sporting events and made her feel like part of the family.

“Robert Edwards showed up for everybody, showed up for his community,” she said. “Bigman has put his own twist on that, and he will continue to walk in those footsteps.”

Edwards said his community has always motivated him.

“I’ve had family members go play at Pitt, Villanova, those types of schools for football,” he said. “Being able to sit at the dinner table and talk about my experiences … I just want to be like them, and I want to be better than them one day.”

Football wasn’t always his main sport. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 300 pounds, Edwards is currently preparing for basketball season. He said basketball has made him a better football player.

“A cross chop is basically the same thing as a crossover in basketball,” he said, noting that he has done ladder drills with his father since he was 4. “People always say my footwork is ridiculous for my size … basketball is such a big factor in that.”

Technique, he said, is central to the way he plays.

“You don’t have to be the most big, tall or athletic,” he said. “If you’re technically sound, you can beat anybody.”

Obatala “Obi” Roundtree, Edwards’ longtime trainer and a family friend, said the athlete’s conditioning has always separated him from his peers.

“He understands when he’s tired, his competition is tired,” Roundtree said. “So he’ll keep working on what I ask him to do, because he realizes that he doesn’t want to stop when his competition stops.”

Roundtree said they focused on building Edwards into a complete athlete.

“We wanted him to have functional strength,” he said. “We wanted to make him as athletic as possible so that no matter what he pursued, he was going to be strong and have the endurance he needed.”

Edwards said he prepares for all possibilities. A dedicated student, he plans to major in pre-law at Richmond. He said his interest in law comes from his desire to help his community, and he has long dreamed of becoming a defense attorney.

“I hope I can make it to the NFL, but I have plans set so I can be successful in other areas of my life,” he said. “I want to help people, like wrongfully accused convicts. That’s been a big passion of mine since I was a little kid.”

Roundtree said he is proud of Edwards’ ambition.

“He chose his college so that he could pursue his dreams as a man,” he said. “And that’s rare for a teenage boy.”

As Edwards prepares to graduate and join Richmond on a full scholarship, he said he is anticipating an exciting transition.

“It’s going to be different, and I do treat it more like a job because, obviously, you’re in there day in, day out, morning to night,” he said. “I’m going to start training more often … I just want to be the best version of myself I can be once I get there.”

Edwards and his parents visited more than 20 schools during the recruiting process, but he said Richmond was the first program that fully believed in him. His father, a teacher at Emmaus, recalled the moment his son learned the Spiders had called.

“He comes into my office, flying, like, ‘Dad, Richmond called,’” he said. “I was like, ‘Who, Richmond?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, he thinks I’m a pro. He thinks I’m a pro.’”

Edwards II said a coach compared his son to Kobe Turner, a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams who was the Coastal Athletic Association’s co-defensive player of the year at Richmond in 2021. Turner graduated with degrees in music and mathematics.

For a young man nicknamed Bigman, his mother said, it is his heart that has always stood out.

“He was just this little baby,” Leah Edwards said. “He just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and so we just started calling him Bigman, and it stuck.”