A lot of players that first come to the Pittsburgh Steelers talk about how much of a family environment it is. These days, it’s pretty hard to escape given all of the NFL bloodlines on the roster. While there was already T.J. Watt, one of three siblings in the league, and Anthony Chickillo, a third-generation player, among others, this season brought not one but two brothers to the team.
Terrell Edmunds was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick. By the season, they also added his older brother, Trey Edmunds, as a running back on the practice squad. Their younger brother, Tremaine Edmunds, was also a first-round pick this year for the Buffalo Bills.
Which means travel time for Mom and Dad—Dad being Pro Bowl tight end Ferrell Edmunds, and Mom being Felicia Edmunds, both of whom play a very active role in their sons’ lives. At least one of them are at every game they play, even now that the brothers are on two different teams after playing at Virginia Tech together.
Felicia and the two brothers on the roster talked about that bond earlier with Teresa Varley via the team’s website, a very worthwhile read. It shows just how valuable it is to have your parents in your life, especially ones so invested and informed as they are, since they have already lived the football life themselves.
Terrell admitted that he’s “a mama’s boy”. Felicia said all of them are. But she said that Terrell is the one that is like her, the sweet middle child who got flack from both older brother Trey (birth name Ferrell Jr.) and younger brother Tremaine.
“I like to know what is going. It’s okay for people to do their jobs. I am not talking about coaches and things of that nature, but anything else that has to do with them. I want to know something about it”, Felicia told Varley.
“I like to know what is going on. What is going to happen, when it’s going to happen, so I can put my stamp of approval on it and feel good about it. I want them to be independent. But there is still that part of me that wants to know what is going on. I want to be in the mix of things”.
Terrell said that he talks to his parents every single day, sometimes two or three times a day. The parents regularly make the commute from their home in Virginia, where Ferrell grew up, both to Pittsburgh and to Buffalo to see their sons, both on and off the field.
Not everybody who makes it in the league has so much support to rely on from their parents, obviously through no fault of their own, which makes the family-oriented aspect of the Steelers organization even more important. And now that family includes the Edmunds—not just Terrell and Trey, but the whole clan. Just ask Mike Tomlin, whom Felicia told to call her if the boys act up.
