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Tommy Edwards was born and raised in Radford VA where he became well known for his athletic abilities. As a senior at Radford High School under the coaching of Norman Lineburg, Tommy earned 7 All- American awards and a commendation from the Virginia General Assembly for his achievements on the football field, qualified for the state track meet in 5 events, contributed to a regional championship baseball team, and was awarded the school fine art award. Tommy was nicknamed “Touchdown” Tommy by local sports writer Ralph Berrier and scored a staggering 57 TDs in just two years at Radford High. He signed a full scholarship to attend Virginia Tech, following in the footsteps of father Ken Edwards Class of ‘70 (Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame member), to play football for Frank Beamer (a former teammate of Ken at VT) and sister Angie Edwards Class of ’92, who competed as a Track and Field athlete. Tommy majored in wildlife biology at Tech, but longed for a creative outlet in the arts.
After red shirting his freshmen year, Tommy’s carrier was launched into orbit scoring six touchdowns in the first two games of the season. Tommy led the nation for six weeks in all divisions of NCAA football leading all pro Marshal Faulk and Garrison Hearst. Tommy finished the season with eleven TDs setting freshmen scoring record and helped lead the Hokies to the first of many bowl games under Beamer. Tommy and Ken are the only father/ son combo to ever score touchdowns in bowl games in NCAA history. It was during this time of great success on the gridiron that Tommy began to struggle with bi-polar symptoms, severe depression, and anxiety. During the spring semester of his red shirt sophomore year, Tommy fell into a depression that drove him to suicidal thoughts as he began self-medicating to deal with the mounting pressures and mental/emotional illness. Tommy stopped attending classes and rarely left his room for weeks. He made a decision to leave Tech and seek other options for school, ending up at Boise State University in Idaho. Tommy played one year for the Broncos, but his heart was not in it. The illness followed, and he was misdiagnosed and began a series of anti-depressants and sleeping pills that further complicated his illness. Tommy found shelter in his art, poetry, and music. He decided to leave Boise, and pursue a carrier as an artist. Returning to Virginia to work for the family business and develop his art, Tommy found it difficult to break out of the identity of the star athlete. He felt the disappointment of his family, friends, and community in that he didn’t pursue a professional football carrier. This weighed heavy on Tommy’s heart and mind and added to the already debilitating depression that he was entrenched in. His self-medicating turned into the abuse of alcohol and drugs to try and cope with the mental/ emotional illness that had slowly eroded his sense of self-confidence and self-worth. During this period of time Tommy had a number of run-ins with the law, and decided to give up drugs and alcohol in the summer of 1999. The next two and a half years were a blur of creative energy producing 100’s of pieces of art, developing educational ideas and concepts, recording a number of musical albums, and laying the groundwork for the skateboard company the Tommy had dreamed of as a teen. During this time, Tommy also created and piloted a teen outreach program called the “The Ugly Truth.” The message was carried to a number to youth groups, schools, and to the Virginia Tech football team. Tommy married in the 2001 and moved to Southern California so his former wife could work toward her doctorate a Pacifica Graduate Institute. The marriage didn’t last, but Tommy stayed in California to develop what became Sasquatch Skateboards and pursue his music carrier. Tommy’s music began to draw the attention of the music industry and he began to make a name for himself in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Malibu, and LA. He opened up for a number high profile artists and performed on television a number of times. Just as the skateboard company and music were taking off, Tommy suffered a brain injury in July of 2003 as a result of a 60 plus MPH skateboard accident that nearly ended his life and brought on extreme brain chemistry fluctuations. Within six months of the accident Tommy had lost his business, his home, and most of his friends due to the hyper-mania that followed the brain injury. He was homeless and destitute for 8 months until a good friend helped him get off the streets and rebuild his life. During this time, Tommy continued to develop his music, the one thing helped him keep it all together. Tommy began couch surfing in the posh neighborhoods of Malibu and made a number of connections with powerful families and entertainment professionals. With the help of friends he moved to San Diego and began the slow healing process. Within six months he was preforming again and began socializing amongst the music communities in San Diego. In November of 2005, Tommy started a productions company called San Diego Music Scene, and started producing live events including the Cream of The Crop music competitions garnering the attention of national music press and helping a number of musical acts find recognition. In 2006 he created a city wide music resource guide connecting 100's of fans, musicians, venues, and music oriented businesses with each other. Tommy also worked with Tangled Records Founder Will Edwards (no relation) to create the San Diego H.A.T. (honoring acoustic talent) Awards in the fall of 2006. After one of Tommy's musician friends lost everything in a fire in November of 2006, he organized a Christmas benefit show and raised over a $1000 to help him get back on his feet. In January of 2007 Tommy created the Harmony Grove Center for Integrated Arts, a collective of musicians and artists designed to help artistes of differing disciplines find common ground and increase growth opportunities though shared resources. In April, Tommy was on the east coast visiting family and touring when tragedy struck on the campus of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. In the days following the shootings Tommy began developing the ground work for the Heart of Virginia Foundation and made plans to return to San Diego and prepare to more back home to Virginia to create The Heart of Virginia Foundation.
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