By: Matt Laws (matt.laws@averyjournal.com)
The Appalachian State Mountaineers almost saw their star quarterback lost for the season on Wednesday, even before he took the field for fall practice. Mountaineer Quarterback Armanti Edwards, the 2008 Walter Payton Award winner, suffered a setback last week when he had to receive around 30 stitches in his right foot after a freak accident mowing his yard.
“I had cut the grass plenty of times, but it was just a freak accident,” Edwards said. “My foot slipped as I was putting the lawn mower back up.”
“The situation with Armanti is we got about 12,000 people here in town who will mow his yard the rest of the year, and when the students get back there will be another 12,000,” Appalachian State Coach Jerry Moore said. “I think his yard is going to be in nice shape. I just don’t know what kind of shape his toe is going to be.’
The senior was mowing his lawn at his off campus residence that he shares with teammate Brian Quick when he slipped and got his foot caught under the mower. Quick had just got home and saw Edwards mowing, but did not see the quarterback get injured. When Edwards first saw his shoe he was wearing he knew something had to be wrong.
“I said this could be really bad because my shoe is really messed up,” Edwards said. “It was actually better then it seemed.”
Edwards entered the house to take off his shoe and realized that something was wrong. He called the Appalachian training staff who decided that Edwards needed to be taken to the Watauga Medical Center Emergency Room where he was joined by Coach Moore. There, doctors cleaned the wound and stitched Edwards up and released him. Edwards indicated that it would be at least two weeks before the doctors would remove the stitches
Edwards was able to participate in media day activities and Coach Moore also talked about Edwards’ toughness.
“Armanti is a great player, everybody knows that,” Moore said. “I think if you followed him or know about him or the inner workings of Armanti Edwards, pain for him is not like it is for all the rest of us. His pain threshold is extremely high. He is a tough kid. How soon can he push off that foot, I think that is going to be the tell tale thing.”
Edwards, however, saw that there might be a silver lining in the whole ordeal.
“It could be a good thing or a bad thing,” Edwards said. “I always get injured some point in the season and hopefully this is the time I got injured. I have been a fast recover since I have been here. I am just happy it is the beginning of the season. It was just a freak accident.”
Doctors expect Edwards to miss anywhere from two to four weeks. The Mountaineers kick off the season against East Carolina on September 5.
