Edwards perfectly happy just to win in Cleveland
Braylon Edwards bites his nails during a recent game against the Packers. (Oct. 31, 2010) Credit: David Pokress
CLEVELAND - In a perfect world, maybe it's Braylon Edwards, not Santonio Holmes, who makes the game-winning catch in yesterday's game against his old Browns team.
Instead, it was Holmes who played the hero in the Jets' 26-20 overtime win as he caught a 37-yard touchdown pass.
But in Edwards' mind, this really was a perfect ending.
"The perfect storybook ending for me is getting the team win," he said after his team improved to 7-2. "We beat a team that was in our way, and we withstood everything. For me, that's picture-perfect."
Edwards admittedly was eager to face the team that drafted him in the first round in 2005 and traded him to the Jets last October. Last week, he said he couldn't wait to exact revenge against the Browns.
"I left there with a bitter taste in my mouth, and I'm going back there for some satisfaction," Edwards said in an interview with Newsday. "They can see it for how they want it. They can read it for how they want it . . . I remember the comments, I remember the writers, I remember the fans, I remember the coaches, I remember the people in the organization. I remember everything and everybody down there that had something to say when 17 exited the doors."
Edwards' intensity showed early when he got into a scuffle on his first pass. He caught a 6-yard pass from Mark Sanchez and then lowered his head into cornerback Sheldon Brown. Several other Browns players joined the play, and Edwards started a shoving match.
"There were a lot of things going on," he said. "It was kind of a fast play. I think my knee touched down, and the play was ruled down. Yet two guys were trying to take some shots at me after the play. It's football. Those guys were excited to get out there and I don't think anything was dirty."
No penalties were called on the play.
Edwards wound up with four catches for 59 yards and no touchdowns. He was targeted seven times by Sanchez.
"I think you learn when you get older and mature in some ways, and I thought I just came here to play football," Edwards said. "I didn't come in here to get into it with the fans or any of you [reporters], anything like that. The only thing I said was get your popcorn ready, and if you brought popcorn, it was well-deserved, because this was a great game between two teams."
Edwards said it has been an emotional time the last two weeks going back to his hometown of Detroit, where the Jets faced the Lions, and then Cleveland. Asked how he thinks it went the last two weeks, Edwards replied: "Two wins, no losses. It was good. I think I was able to handle it. I don't think I let it get to me during the game. I did the best I could to help my team. We got two wins, so I feel good."
