Former Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards returned to the boxing ring Friday night in Minnesota, apparently against the pugilistic equivalent of his own Falcons career.
Edwards improved to 2-0 with a 41-second TKO of some guy named Corey Briggs, who is now 0-4.
According to Doug Erlien of KMSP-TV in Minneapolis, Edwards landed “three body shots and a glancing blow to the head,” and Briggs took a knee and was counted out.
Erlien called the fight at the Grand Casino Hinckley “a complete joke,” noting that Edwards’ opponent didn’t throw a punch.
“If fans thought Edwards entering the ring was a joke to begin with, nothing that happened Friday night changed anyone’s thinking,” Erlien wrote.
Edwards is scheduled to fight again at the casino on Feb. 9, and again on March 15.
He won his first professional fight in May 2011, when he was sour at the Vikings over his contract status, saying he’d rather box than play for them.
The Falcons might have preferred it if Edwards had stayed inside the ring. They released Edwards in November, after giving him a five-year, $30 million contract which included $11 million in guarantees.
He had nine tackles and no sacks in 2012 (after a 3.5-sack outburst in 2011), making him perhaps the worst miss of Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff’s run in Atlanta.