FORMER Bendigo footballer-turned-punter Jeremy Edwards will call Toronto home for the next two years, after being drafted by the Canadian Football League's Argonauts.
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The 26-year-old, who played two seasons of Division 1 college football for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in 2022 and '23, was selected last week by the Argonauts as the seventh pick in the CFL Global Draft.
Edwards - a former BFNL footballer with Kangaroo Flat - was one of six Australian punters chosen in the draft, which is exclusively devoted to non-Canadian and non-American players.
Seven Aussies in total were drafted, with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats using pick 14 to claim University of Utah tight end Thomas Yassmin, a former Australian schoolboy rugby union representative, as the only non-punter.
Edwards' dad Bill said it was an exciting and proud time for the whole family, especially Jeremy.
"It's a long way from Dower Park to the Argonauts' stadium in Toronto, but he's made it happen," he said.
"It's an exciting time for him.
"At one point there last year he was ranked number six in the USA in Division 1 college football, which was pretty remarkable.
"He did nominate for the NFL Draft, which didn't quite work out, but the Argonauts had been talking to him and it's Toronto where he has ended up."
Remarkably, Edwards - who spent two years at Eastern Kentucky on a scholarship - won't be the only Bendigonian playing in the CFL next season.
Sheahan was pick eight by the Blue Bombers in the 2023 Global Draft.
Edwards learned of his move to the Argonauts while back visiting family in Australia, but flew out to Toronto, via Los Angeles, early on Tuesday.
Bill Edwards said his son had fielded some interest from NFL teams in the lead-up to the draft, most noticeably from the Miami Dolphins.
A graduate from the Prokick Australia program run by Nathan Chapman, Edwards punted 42 times for 1756 yards during his second season with Eastern Kentucky in 2023, for an average of 41.8 yards and a long of 55 yards.
In 2022, he averaged 36.8 yards per punt in 12 games, including a 61-yard boot and 13 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Bill Edwards said Jeremy had spent a few weeks in the lead up to the NFL draft working with a punting specialist in Pittsburgh.
"He has done a hell of a lot of miles and put in the hard work, but it's all paid off," he said.
"When he came home all those years ago and said I want to have a crack at getting into the NFL, I thought 'you've got a lot of hard work ahead of you lad'.
"But he's stuck to his guns. He did the hard work, travelling up and down to Melbourne three times a week, training with the guys from Prokick Australia, and he eventually got picked up by a Division 1 college team.
"The flow on from that is ending up in the Canadian league."
Edwards joins an Argonauts team, which finished in first place in the CFL's East Division last season at 16-2, but lost to the Alouettes in the division final.
Toronto signed seven Canadians from the 2024 CFL Draft and one from the Global Draft.
The Argonauts second Global Draft selection, defensive lineman Denzel Daxon, has already been signed by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.
Edwards will have little time to settle in, with rookie camp for the Argonauts kicking-off this Wednesday (Canadian time).
It's a long way from Dower Park to the Argonauts' stadium in Toronto, but (Jeremy's) made it happen
- Bill Edwards
