Braylon Edwards was moved and motivated by Dennis Bryd’s speech to the team that day before the New England game.
“Dennis Byrd spoke to us last night, and everybody here is familiar with Dennis Byrd,” Edwards said. “If you’re not, he suffered the injury in 1992 that ended his career.
“It was the most inspirational thing that I’ve ever heard in my life. After he spoke, I really couldn’t sleep last night. I was just chomping off at the bit to play today. And basically what he said is he would give anything in life to be able to play one more play, not even a game, he said one more play.
“He said, ‘You gentlemen have the opportunity to come together in this very moment and take a hold of your destiny.’”
Edwards carried two defenders into the end zone on his touchdown catch in New England.
“That was one of those plays, Mark put the ball on me, I caught it, and I just felt Dennis Byrd as I was going into the end zone,” Edwards said. “I’m not trying to get cheesy or anything like that, but it’s honest. I felt his spirit and the things that he talked about last night. They really showed up on that play, and I looked up and I was in the end zone.”
