Former All-ACC Tar Heel quarterback Junior Edge dies at age 79

On Aug. 29, over half a century after the season that saw him win first-team All-ACC honors, former UNC football quarterback Junior Edge died in his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was 79.

In 1963, long before quarterbacks like Sam Howell and Mitch Trubisky thrilled UNC football fans and led their teams to success, the then-senior Edge took command of the offense and brought the Tar Heels unprecedented glory by leading them to their first ACC Championship, as well as a 35-0 victory over Air Force in the 1963 Gator Bowl. With Edge’s death, the Tar Heels have lost a legend.

“Junior is a really important part of Carolina football’s history," head coach Mack Brown said in a statement. "He was an excellent player and a wonderful person. I really enjoyed having the chance to coach his son Trey. Junior will be missed and we send our condolences to his family and friends.”

Edge, at six feet tall and over 200 pounds, was a standout athlete at Massey Hill High School, excelling at football, basketball, and baseball, where he won back-to-back state titles as a pitcher in 1958 and 1959. As a football player at UNC under then-head coach James Hickey, he played both quarterback and safety. 

While he was a talented safety — his seven interceptions in 1961 were second in the ACC — it was as quarterback that he left his mark on the Tar Heels in that unforgettable 1963 campaign. Former teammate and four-time Pro Bowl running back Ken Willard said one word described Edge more than anything: “solid.”

“There certainly wasn’t anything flashy about him,” Willard said. “He gave the appearance and would make you think that he had things under control. The word I would use to describe him was solid, very calm, not excitable, and that’s what you want in a quarterback. He was a leader, and I think he was perfect for our ball club.”

Though Edge did have some stints with professional teams in the Canadian Football League and the now-defunct Continental Football League, he ended up returning to Fayetteville, starting a family and becoming a deeply-involved member of the Cumberland County community. Throughout the years, he served on the Cumberland County Board of Education, was an active member of the local Kiwanis Club, worked as a radio commentator for local high school football teams and even operated a popular bowling alley. 

His son Trey, who played football at UNC under Brown in 1989, said that his father’s community spirit was one of the things that made him so fondly remembered.

“He was extremely involved, not just in athletics, but any way he could help kids and the community,” Trey said. “He was very, very proud of where he came from. His siblings lived (in Fayetteville) for a long time and his parents were still here, so he came back home and loved calling this place home. He was absolutely community-minded and led in a lot of different ways.”

Edge remained involved with his college alma mater, with his son saying that he, “lived, ate and breathed Carolina Athletics.” The younger Edge said he had fond memories of going to games with his dad as a kid, then of his dad cheering him on as he played and, eventually, of going to games together as adults. To Trey, it felt like their relationship “had come full circle.” That circularity has proved true, as Trey now serves as a local high school football announcer, just as his father had.

More than athletics or community involvement, however, Trey said that he would remember his father most of all as a larger-than-life man, with a sense of love and kindness to match his stature. Junior Edge is survived by his wife, Sandra, his kids, Trey and Karly, five grandchildren, five siblings and a large extended family.

“He was a really gentle soul,” Trey said. “And it was later in his life when grandchildren came around that I really saw a different side of him. He was a kind, gentle man who loved his family first.”

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