Shortly after graduation, Ryan Edwards '09 was web surfing on one of his favorite sites, Patriots.com (The Official Website of the New England Patriots), and saw one of those flash advertisements that fly across the screen. The flash ad promoted a contest to identify guest hosts for a local sports television show, Totally Patriots, which airs Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. on WSBK-TV38, a CBS-owned station in the Boston market.  Their official website describes it as a program "designed for the next generation of Patriots fans,"  with in-depth player interviews and fun football facts mixed in.

When Edwards made the trip down to Gillette Stadium to try out, he noticed right away that the competition was stiff, with hundreds of eager contestants showing up to the auditions.

"The whole contest took place over one day, it was a whirlwind.  But it was awesome; the judges were actual Patriots players along with guests judges like Kristina Akra, host of Patriots Today and Patriots All-Access."

Edwards made it through the first round and eventually joined the group of 28 finalists later that day.  He then ended up capturing one of the eight spots up for grab, and won the right to host two episodes of Totally Patriots during weeks 7 and 8 of the 2009 NFL season.  Fellow Curry alum, Melissa Toupin '09 (pictured above) also secured a spot.  

Edwards' stand-up locations included on-field at Gillette Stadium and inside the Patriots Hall of Fame nearby.  You'd think that a young man of 21 years-old would be fazed by a pressure-filled environment like that, but it all came down to preparation.

"During the whole process I thought to myself, 'what's the difference between this and my experiences at Curry College?  Absolutely nothing," recalled Edwards.  "I felt totally prepared, and I attribute it one hundred percent to the Curry's TV program."

Edwards, a native of Hopedale, MA, majored in Communication and acquired a solid background in on-air broadcasting during his time at Curry.

"I had the opportunity to do tons of play-by-play for Curry's flagship radio station, WMLN-FM (91.5).  I did men's and women's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, hockey, and even baseball.  I even did PA announcing on the side for my work-study position."

Edwards also pretty much lived at the television station (CC8) on campus, completing a TV practicum in his junior year and eventually became the supervising producer of the station during his senior year.

He also credits one of his mentors, Communication Department co-chair, Professor Jerry Gibbs.

"I can't even begin to describe the impact Professor Gibbs had on me during my years at Curry," gushed Edwards.  "He always encouraged me and never shot down any of my ideas.  But what he did do was to make me own those ideas, helped me plan them out correctly, and guided me to where I needed to be.  And he was ALWAYS available."

With this professional, on-air experience, Edwards is seeking a talent agent and continuing to pursue his dream to be an on-air personality in the Boston area, one day hoping to do television play-by-play for the Boston Celtics.