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Edwards Awaits Addition to the Family
By KAREN CROUSE
Published: July 3, 2005
SEASIDE, Calif., July 1 - He strides between verdant playing fields made slick by fog. Eight hundred youngsters are making pandemonium, friends and touchdowns on Wednesday, the third day of Herman Edwards's football camp at California State University, Monterey Bay.
One week every year, Edwards, the fifth-year coach of the Jets, treats every camper like a member of his extended family. This free camp, now in its 10th year, evolved from Edwards's desire to give back to the community where he grew up.
His eyes are on the kids, but his mind keeps drifting to the child who hasn't arrived.
In between handshakes and hollers, Edwards scans the entrance to the fields, where at any moment he expects his wife, Lia, to materialize.
Lia Edwards is seven months pregnant with their first child, the pregnancy complicated because she has Type 1 diabetes. The past 24 hours have brought fresh worries. Lia developed a nagging cough and congestion in her chest, leading to an unscheduled visit to the doctor.
"She's going to be O.K.," Edwards says.
He glances in the direction of the snack bar, where Lia's parents are seated. There is an empty folding chair where Lia usually sits.
Edwards considers calling her, but he does not own a cellphone. Besides, she usually isn't far from his sight.
When she finally walks into view, Edwards's face softens and he hustles to her side. She accepts a hug from him, then announces, "I have a bronchial infection."
Before he can say anything, she adds: "The baby's great. That's the good news."
The next day is the couple's fifth wedding anniversary. Lia is seated at a table in one of their favorite breakfast hangouts. She is tinkering with her insulin pump when Edwards scoots into the seat next to her.
He orders orange juice and pancakes. Lia, choosing carefully, settles on fruit, cottage cheese and orange juice.
Lia, who is 35, found she had diabetes in her late 20's. In those days she feared needles, so he coached her through her first insulin injection.
This is Lia's third pregnancy. Two years ago, she bought Edwards a gift and made a grand production of delivering the news. Then she had miscarriage in the second month.
The second time she also lost the baby in the first trimester. Herman thought maybe it was time to switch strategies and try to adopt. But Lia wanted to keep trying.
"I had a lot of challenges," she says, patting her belly. "Sometimes you'd be like, 'It's not meant to be; it's not worth it.' "
She says she would think of Edwards's 23-year-old son, Marcus, and tell herself: "No big deal. We have one son. I should be grateful."
Lia found out she was pregnant last Dec. 20, the day after the Jets' 37-14 victory against the Seattle Seahawks.
She broke the news to Edwards, then swore him to secrecy. No celebrating, she said, until we hear the baby's heartbeat.
In early January, Lia felt nauseated while riding on a team bus to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego for a game against the Chargers.
"I have the flu real bad," she told the players. For weeks, that was her story and she stuck to it.
On Feb. 14, Lia told Marcus, a senior receiver at San Diego State, that he was going to be a big brother.
"I'm really excited," said Marcus, one of the camp instructors.
He said he accompanied Lia to one of her doctor appointments and saw a sonogram. He keeps a copy of the image on his computer desk.
Edwards says: "I've got one graduating and I've got another on the way. I always plan these things out good."
Edwards, 51, missed Marcus's birth in 1981. He was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and had a game against Dallas; he never thought to ask for time off.
Now, if one of his players wishes to attend the birth of a child, Edwards will pat him on the back and say, "Do what you have to do."
Marcus lived with his mother in Oakland, Calif. He didn't see much of his father during his playing career. Soon after Edwards retired in 1986, he accepted an assistant coaching job at San Jose State. Marcus became his shadow.
"I was trying to catch up," Edwards says. "The time you have to spend with your kids, you don't get back. When they're young, that's when you have influence. So it's important that you're around."
Edwards and his wife decided they didn't want to learn the sex of the baby. They haven't picked any names.
The only thing that matters, Edwards says, is that the child is healthy.
Lia expects to deliver the baby before the Aug. 27 due date, and she plans to be in Kansas City on Sept. 11 for the Jets' season opener against the Chiefs.
Edwards and the Jets can use all the screaming support they can get.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/sports/football/03edwards.html?
By KAREN CROUSE
Published: July 3, 2005
SEASIDE, Calif., July 1 - He strides between verdant playing fields made slick by fog. Eight hundred youngsters are making pandemonium, friends and touchdowns on Wednesday, the third day of Herman Edwards's football camp at California State University, Monterey Bay.
One week every year, Edwards, the fifth-year coach of the Jets, treats every camper like a member of his extended family. This free camp, now in its 10th year, evolved from Edwards's desire to give back to the community where he grew up.
His eyes are on the kids, but his mind keeps drifting to the child who hasn't arrived.
In between handshakes and hollers, Edwards scans the entrance to the fields, where at any moment he expects his wife, Lia, to materialize.
Lia Edwards is seven months pregnant with their first child, the pregnancy complicated because she has Type 1 diabetes. The past 24 hours have brought fresh worries. Lia developed a nagging cough and congestion in her chest, leading to an unscheduled visit to the doctor.
"She's going to be O.K.," Edwards says.
He glances in the direction of the snack bar, where Lia's parents are seated. There is an empty folding chair where Lia usually sits.
Edwards considers calling her, but he does not own a cellphone. Besides, she usually isn't far from his sight.
When she finally walks into view, Edwards's face softens and he hustles to her side. She accepts a hug from him, then announces, "I have a bronchial infection."
Before he can say anything, she adds: "The baby's great. That's the good news."
The next day is the couple's fifth wedding anniversary. Lia is seated at a table in one of their favorite breakfast hangouts. She is tinkering with her insulin pump when Edwards scoots into the seat next to her.
He orders orange juice and pancakes. Lia, choosing carefully, settles on fruit, cottage cheese and orange juice.
Lia, who is 35, found she had diabetes in her late 20's. In those days she feared needles, so he coached her through her first insulin injection.
This is Lia's third pregnancy. Two years ago, she bought Edwards a gift and made a grand production of delivering the news. Then she had miscarriage in the second month.
The second time she also lost the baby in the first trimester. Herman thought maybe it was time to switch strategies and try to adopt. But Lia wanted to keep trying.
"I had a lot of challenges," she says, patting her belly. "Sometimes you'd be like, 'It's not meant to be; it's not worth it.' "
She says she would think of Edwards's 23-year-old son, Marcus, and tell herself: "No big deal. We have one son. I should be grateful."
Lia found out she was pregnant last Dec. 20, the day after the Jets' 37-14 victory against the Seattle Seahawks.
She broke the news to Edwards, then swore him to secrecy. No celebrating, she said, until we hear the baby's heartbeat.
In early January, Lia felt nauseated while riding on a team bus to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego for a game against the Chargers.
"I have the flu real bad," she told the players. For weeks, that was her story and she stuck to it.
On Feb. 14, Lia told Marcus, a senior receiver at San Diego State, that he was going to be a big brother.
"I'm really excited," said Marcus, one of the camp instructors.
He said he accompanied Lia to one of her doctor appointments and saw a sonogram. He keeps a copy of the image on his computer desk.
Edwards says: "I've got one graduating and I've got another on the way. I always plan these things out good."
Edwards, 51, missed Marcus's birth in 1981. He was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and had a game against Dallas; he never thought to ask for time off.
Now, if one of his players wishes to attend the birth of a child, Edwards will pat him on the back and say, "Do what you have to do."
Marcus lived with his mother in Oakland, Calif. He didn't see much of his father during his playing career. Soon after Edwards retired in 1986, he accepted an assistant coaching job at San Jose State. Marcus became his shadow.
"I was trying to catch up," Edwards says. "The time you have to spend with your kids, you don't get back. When they're young, that's when you have influence. So it's important that you're around."
Edwards and his wife decided they didn't want to learn the sex of the baby. They haven't picked any names.
The only thing that matters, Edwards says, is that the child is healthy.
Lia expects to deliver the baby before the Aug. 27 due date, and she plans to be in Kansas City on Sept. 11 for the Jets' season opener against the Chiefs.
Edwards and the Jets can use all the screaming support they can get.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/sports/football/03edwards.html?