Donnie Edwards grew up in Chula Vista and went on to become a football star playing for UCLA and the San Diego Chargers.
But he credits a local Boys & Girls Club for helping shape the trajectory of his career, which led to Thursday and what Edwards called “a full circle moment for me” – being inducted into the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame.
“I’m from San Diego,” said Edwards, receiving the award at a ceremony at the Marriott Marquis hotel in the Gaslamp. “And I’m proud to be standing here today. I grew up just five miles from here. And the National City Boys & Girls Club is even closer. Believe it or not, this is the same exact hotel where I had my high school prom.”
Edwards was one of eight individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame at the national conference for the Boys & Girls Clubs.
For Edwards, his journey started at the age of 10, when he began showing up after school at the National City club to get some snacks and play games. He continued going, becoming skilled at playing table-top Foosball. But club mentors noticed his athleticism and encouraged him to try football.
That led him to join a local youth team, and eventually UCLA and the National Football League, where he enjoyed a 13-year career as a linebacker for the San Diego Chargers – from 2002-06 – and the Kansas City Chiefs. He retired in 2008.
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Today, he runs a nonprofit organization, the Best Defense Foundation, that helps military veterans and their families.
Since 2006, the organization has taken hundreds of veterans back to the battlefields where they fought. In three weeks, there are plans to take about 30 World War II veterans to Normandy.
Edwards shared his spotlight with them Thursday, introducing three of the veterans at his Hall of Fame induction.
He credits the Boys & Girls Club for developing his drive and purpose. In his induction speech, he said his participation in the club prevented him from becoming a statistic.
“The club was a place filled with people who showed up every day and made a difference in kids like me,” he said. “They didn’t just see who we were. They saw who we could become. They gave me a place to belong, a reason to believe in myself and the courage to set goals I didn’t even know were possible.”
He wants to encourage more youth to join the clubs.
“Everything is possible,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, what you look like; if you work hard, you can accomplish anything that you want in life.”
The other Hall of Fame inductees recognized at the event were actor/comedian Cedric “The Entertainer” Kyles, actor Donnie Wahlberg, WWE wrestler Kenneth “Montez Ford” Crawford, women’s basketball owner/executive Khalia Collier, NBA player Derek Anderson and cardiologist Dr. Rita Ng.
This was the third time San Diego has hosted the conference, which is expected to attract up to 3,000 people to the city.
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