Braylon Edwards - Philanthrophy

Philanthrophy

In 2007, Edwards pledged to 100 Cleveland high school students that, if they maintained grade point averages at 2.5 or higher and performed 15 hours of community service, he would pay for their college tuition, an offer valued at $1 million. On May 25, 2011, it was widely reported that Edwards announced he was keeping his pledge. Sporting News website quoted Edwards as saying:

"As the 2nd most hated man in Clev & a man of my word, today I will honor a promise made to 100 students in Cleveland years ago," Edwards tweeted. "The last of my Advance 100 students will graduate from my program and head off to college on scholarships that I will provide them with. Guys, enjoy and embrace your new beginnings and remember your promise to me, to reach back & help someone else along the way."

The scholarships are worth $10,000 each and fulfill a promise Edwards made to 100 eighth-graders in the Cleveland area in 2007 as long as they continued to meet the academic and community service requirements. According to published reports, Edwards actually selected 101 students. In an interview Edwards said:

"This was not a tax write-off. This was something we wanted to do the right way and something I was going to be a part of until the end. I know that some of these kids could have easily steered off the right path or maybe wouldn't have been able to go to college at all without this, and I just hope someday they pay it forward."

The pledge was through a program called the "ADVANCE 100 Program", an educational initiative established by the Braylon Edwards Foundation in May, 2007.