Dream Chasers

same time, we also worked.”

The crazy dream started to seem a little less crazy in 2012, when Trey received a scholarship to Virginia Tech, two hours northwest of their hometown in Danville, Virginia. Two years later, Terrell joined him in Blacksburg, followed a year later by Tremaine.

The unattainable dream began to seem slightly attainable when Trey joined the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2017. Then Terrell was drafted in 2018 by the Pittsburgh Steelers — 12 picks after the Buffalo Bills took Tremaine at No. 16 overall. (They were the first brothers to be selected in the first round of the same NFL draft.)

Three brothers. In the NFL. At the same time.

A dream come true? Absolutely.

But that was just one pipe dream. The more unfathomable dream was still out of reach. Yet, a sliver of hope arrived four months after Terrell was drafted, when the Steelers signed Trey to their practice squad. Then the 2019 schedule was released — Week 15, December 15, Pittsburgh would host … Buffalo.

Three brothers. In the NFL. In the same game.

Trey, Terrell and Tremaine all remained healthy leading up to the contest, and it was actually flexed to primetime because of the playoff implications. The Bills were in the midst of their best season this century, and the Steelers were struggling without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger but had battled back into playoff contention.

All that meant little to Ferrell and Felicia and the dozens of family members and friends who joined them that frigid night at Heinz Field. After years of dreaming and thousands of workouts, they were focused on their boys sharing an NFL field.

“That night meant the world to us,” Trey, a 25-yearold running back, recently recalled from Pittsburgh. “Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Did it mean more to us or did it mean more to our parents?’ Just seeing the smiles on their faces, and just seeing them overfilled with joy and just lit up, I would trade everything I have to see moments like that.”

“Having the opportunity to do it on the biggest level, it was amazing,” Terrell, a 23-yearold safety, said moments before Trey. “It was a blessing in all forms … It was a night I’ll always remember simply because it’s something that you talk about when you’re younger but you never know if it’ll ever happen. And then it happened that one night.”

“Man, it was just a dream,” Tremaine, a 22-year-old linebacker, said from Buffalo. “I mean, we would be dreaming as children, but when it was actually here it was like, ‘Man, this is really true.’ So I kind of

— TREMAINE EDMUNDS

— TREY EDMUNDS

— TERRELL EDMUNDS

had to calm those emotions down going into the game.”

Buffalo won, 17-10, and went on to secure double-digit wins for the first time since 1999. The loss sparked a three-game losing streak that ended Pittsburgh’s season. But on that night, a pipe dream became reality. It marked just the second time in NFL history (the first was in 1927) that three brothers played in the same game.

Even if the boys didn’t show athleticism as youths, it would have been tough for them to avoid sports. Ferrell was a third-round draft pick for the Dolphins out of Maryland in 1988, playing five seasons as a tight end in Miami, earning two Pro Bowl trips (1989, ‘90) before two final seasons in

Seattle. He then got into coaching, eventually becoming the head coach at Dan River High, where he coached all three boys.

Felicia, meanwhile, was a star hurdler at Southern Illinois, winning three Missouri Valley Conference championships after a state title in high school. She eventually ventured into teaching, and is now a P.E. teacher at Johnson Elementary in Danville.

Yet, as involved with athletics as the Edmunds family was, they also served in the church. Along with cousins, aunts and uncles, they faithfully attended Right Touch Christian Church in Danville.

“We did pretty much everything in the church growing up, and that was just our foundation, because at the end of the day our parents always made sure that we realized we couldn’t do anything on the field, in the classroom, or just enjoy the fellowship of family without God,” Terrell says.

Faith in Christ was often talked about in the house, it remains a frequent topic on family text chains, and all three are participants in chapel services with their respective NFL teams. Faith was also a driving force in launching the 3 Eboyz Foundation. The brothers “believe that through Christ, all things are possible,” according to their website (which is currently undergoing a re-launch). “With a focus on Faith, Family, and Football, the brothers are active role models for young people in the world of sport and beyond by promoting positivity, faith, resilience and hard work.”

Those qualities were certainly tested on their journeys to the NFL. Though each brother was recruited by numerous Division I schools, and each chose to play for Virginia Tech, a perennially strong ACC program, none were surefire NFL prospects. Rivals, a leading recruiting service, ranked Trey as Virginia’s No. 9 prospect coming out of high school; Terrell was listed No. 30 when he came out, and Tremaine at No. 12.

But through growth as players and men at Virginia Tech, Terrell and Tremaine developed into first-round picks. Trey’s journey featured a few more obstacles, but was an inspiration to his little brothers.

Trey starred at running back and linebacker for Dan River High, where he also scored more than 1,000 career points for the basketball team and won a 200-meter state title in track. After a redshirt season at Virginia Tech, he led the Hokies in 2013 with 830 yards all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games. But in the final week that season, he broke his left tibia. He battled more injuries the next two seasons, then transferred to Maryland, and again battled injuries.

But he never quit. In his toughest moments, he turned to God.

“Everything that I ever knew was basically stripped away from me,” Trey says. “I was basically helpless; I couldn’t do anything on my own. For so long it was me thinking that I was doing all of this and I had gotten myself to different situations and certain points in my life …

“I had a whole lot of time to myself, I had a whole lot of time sitting down and time looking at things from afar. So I was able to develop different perspectives just to real life, and I was actually able to dig into my [Bible] and really see that, ‘Hey man, this thing is not just about us, it’s not just about me, it’s not just about what you do in church; it’s way bigger than that. It’s about the relationship you have with God.’ The quicker I was able to pick that up, I was able to find peace.”

It was in college that Trey truly discovered — as did his brothers; as do many people — that he needed to make his own decision to follow Christ. He couldn’t rely on the faith of his parents. Trey was guided in that process by two different chaplains at Virginia Tech, as well as another one he spent time with after transferring to Maryland.

He now says his favorite verse is 1 Timothy 4:12: “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (NKJV).

In battling injuries through college and fighting to keep a spot in the NFL, Trey has been an example to his brothers.

“A guy that’s determined to reach a certain point and that’s just a true testament to him, and his story just impacted me a lot,” Tremaine says of his oldest brother. “ Just seeing someone that’s focused like he is and has faith like he has, because he went through a lot. … Obviously he was frustrated (with the injuries), but at the same time he found a way. And that’s what it is at the end of the day, whether he’s dependent on his family, dependent on faith, dependent on a lot of things, he’s found a way to overcome those things, and I take my hat off to that.”

“He was the model of bigger brother, the model person that you want to look up to,” Terrell says of Trey. “You could see that his peers looked up to him; me and my younger brother, we looked up to him. My dad just pretty much let him be the big brother and just let him direct us and guide us in that right direction. And he never failed me or my dad.”

Terrell battled his own injuries, eventually needing left shoulder surgery in 2017 that ended his redshirt junior season after 10 games, and ultimately his college career. He and his younger brother announced in January 2018 that they’d enter the NFL draft together.

“It was more so you can’t really let him down,” Terrell says of Trey, “because he was hurt every year in college. But just seeing how he overcame all of those hills and how he faced adversity with a smile on his face, it seemed like he was never upset, and in those situations it’s easy to get upset. … He could have quit any day. He could have just threw in the towel and he could’ve been like, ‘All right Terrell and Tremaine, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to switch my whole lifestyle.’

“But I think he knew that we were looking up to him so much that he just kept pushing and he never threw in the towel. He never even nudged at all. It didn’t seem like he lost any faith, he didn’t lose any type of drive or bite to him. He just continued to be himself.”

Terrell left Virginia Tech after starting for three seasons, and was named thirdteam All-ACC in 2017. With the Steelers, he started 37 of his first 40 games at strong safety, and was second on the team in tackles in 2019 with 105.

Tremaine left Virginia Tech after starting every game his sophomore and junior seasons, and was a third-team All-American in 2017. With the Bills, he’s started every game of his NFL career (halfway through the 2020 season), and was named to the Pro Bowl for 2019 after leading his team in tackles with 115. Coupled with 121 tackles as a rookie, he became the first player in NFL history to post two seasons of 100-plus tackles by the age of 21.

Trey, meanwhile, has been on the practice squad, on the gameday roster, cut and waived, all this season. But he continues to fight. And you can be sure he’ll do everything in his power to remain on the roster for Week 14 — when the Steelers meet the Bills again, this time in Buffalo.

Another game on the same NFL field would be another dream come true for a trio that has always been close, but grew even tighter during 2020’s pandemic. They quarantined together in their own house in Danville, and also spent time with their parents. It was the most time they’d spent together since Trey left for college. They worked out together — like the old days — but also talked with each other as men.

The “model big brother” is always looking out for his younger brothers, but they’re also doing the same for him.

“We’re real close and we try to do most things together,” Trey says, “but I definitely think we’re always all looking out for each other.”

Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough often wondered about his biological parents, but was unable to gain access to adoption records. When a state law changed, he found his birth mother, who revealed McCullough’s biological father — a mentor and coach he’d known much of his life. Grace all theway BY KEVIN MERCER

As Deland McCullough clutched his phone, he felt nervous, excited, emotional, hopeful — all at once.

The year was 2017. McCullough was the USC running backs coach at the time, by then a coaching veteran. He had been a part of heartbreaking finishes and last-second victories. Every week in the fall, thousands of fans cheered for or against his players. Yet nothing compared to this quiet moment.

McCullough picked up his phone and, with a racing heart, dialed a familiar number — one he had dialed hundreds of times before. But this time, it was different. The magnitude of this call would reverberate for the rest of his life.

How would the man on the other end react to this news?

McCullough had listened to and learned from that voice for decades. It was his coach, his mentor, his friend. But now, after years of unanswered questions and dead ends, he knew for the first time this fall day that the voice on the other end would also represent a missing piece in his life — his biological father.

Sherman Smith, who had recently retired from coaching the Seattle Seahawks’ running backs, knew McCullough well. They shared a love of football, coaching and Miami (Ohio) University. He had no idea they shared a past as well.