IMMOKALEE, Fla. – Immokalee alum Edgerrin James stole the show over the weekend with his acceptance speech into the NFL Hall of Fame. It was a night that never would have been possible without his beginning in Southwest Florida.
To get to the stage in Canton, Ohio over the weekend James became a legend with the Indianapolis Colts and before that, a Hall of Famer with the Miami Hurricanes but all roads lead back to Immokalee High School where James began to write his story, his way.
“For me, it all started in Immokalee, Florida,” James said. “Immokalee High School is where I made a name for myself in football and when I became a man at a young age.”
James stared for the Indians in the early ’90s and played Pop Warner football while growing up. But as soon as he hit the field for the high school team he caught the eye of a young running backs coach right away.
“I knew him coming from Pop Warner to expect him but when he stepped on the field again he was like a man amongst boys,” Immokalee Football Coach and Edgerrin James’s RB Coach Tim Howell said.
Coach Tim Howell was James’s running backs coach for all four years of his high school career and saw a fire in Edge’s eyes at an early age and not just because of football, but because of family.
“He kind of like put a lot of pressure on himself to do well in school and then in football because he knew that was going to be his future,” Coach Howell said.
The drive he had led to an all-out commitment, even sleeping at Coach Howell’s home to make sure he would make practices on time, and the work didn’t stop once he hit the offseason.
“I know that Edgerrin he spent a lot of time in the off-season when we do off-season workouts he would be gone because he would travel up north to pitch watermelons,” Immokalee offensive line coach and former coach of James’ Israel Gallegos said.
It was that unique and sometimes difficult to find determination that translated to one of the best high school, college, and professional careers in football history.
“Edgerrin I mean it’s just, I mean the best football player that ever came out of Immokolee High School,” Coach Gallegos said.
But the lesson that James wants to leave on the next generation is about how he did it and who he did it for.
“He always comes out here and talks to the kids and he can say I was the best and to get there you have to work hard,” Coach Howell said.
If you need any other evidence you can find it in Canton, Ohio at the pro football hall of fame.
“He always said that he wanted to be part of being the greatest well Edgerrin you are one of the greatest and you are number 366 in the Hall of Fame,” Coach Howell said.
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