Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 5 | May 2018

inside.hokiesports.com 7 Edmunds brothers make history at NFL Draft Tremaine and Terrell Edmunds made history at the 2018 NFL Draft held April 26-28 when both former Virginia Tech players were selected in the first round of the draft, which took place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The duo, who hail from Danville, Virginia, became the first pair of brothers to be selected in the first round of an NFL Draft. They also join their older brother, Trey, in the NFL—Trey Edmunds plays for the New Orleans Saints. “Honestly, it’s a blessing,” Terrell Edmunds said. “[Thursday night], when we got back to the hotel and all the family was there eating, we were like, ‘This really just happened.’ It was a blessing for me, a blessing for my family, a blessing for my community and a blessing for my school. It was an amazing moment. We’re all excited, and now it’s time to get back to work and start everything over. Now we’re here, and now we’ve got to make a statement for ourselves.” The Edmunds brothers, along with the three other former Tech players drafted, also continued a streak for the Tech football program—at least one player has been drafted every year since 1993. Widely projected to be a first-round pick, Tremaine went to the Buffalo Bills, who traded up in the first round and selected him with the 16th overall selection. Tremaine earned third-team All-America honors by The Associated Press and first-team All-ACC honors this past season after registering team bests in tackles (109), tackles for a loss (14) and sacks (5.5) from his backer position. He became the first Tech linebacker to be chosen in anNFLDraft since 2010when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Cody Grimm, who played whip linebacker in his career, in the seventh round. Playing the third position of his career this past season, Terrell went to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who took him with the 28th overall selection. The third-team All-ACC choice, who first played cornerback at Tech and then spent the 2016 campaign at rover, recorded 59 tackles and two interceptions this past fall. by Jimmy Robertson “That’s history, man,” Tremaine said after his brother was chosen. “My emotions after I heard that … it was like my heart started beating real fast. To see the smile on my brother’s face, to see the smile on my whole family’s face, it meant the world to me—and I know it meant the world to my family.” For the fifth straight year, an NFL team drafted a Virginia Tech defensive back. In fact, in 19 of the past 20 years (with the exception of 2013), an NFL team has drafted at least one Tech defensive back. “A lot ofmy friends are diehardSteelers fans, so I always grewuphearing them talk about the Steelers, talking about the tradition and everything,” Terrell said. “I just know that the fan base is amazing, just from last night [April 26] after my name was called. All the fans congratulated me, and when I was at the airport, everyone came up to me, shook my hand. All the smiles and hugs and love that I had there … that was amazing.” Three other Virginia Tech players were drafted by NFL teams, as defensive tackle Tim Settle went in the fifth round to the Washington Redskins, offensive lineman Wyatt Teller went in the fifth round to Buffalo and cornerback Greg Stroman went in the seventh round to Washington. Teller thus joins Edmunds in Buffalo, while Settle and Stroman play for the team whose home resides less than an hour from their home in Manassas, Virginia. The five players drafted were the most by the Virginia Tech program since five were drafted in 2010. In addition, several other former Virginia Tech players signed free- agent deals with NFL teams. Cornerback Brandon Facyson inked a deal with San Diego, while mike linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka signed with Jacksonville and receiver Cam Phillips signed with Buffalo. Also, center Eric Gallo inked a deal with Philadelphia, and kicker Joey Slye has scheduled tryouts with Tampa Bay and Cleveland. Hokies