Booker Tyrone Edgerson Jr. (born July 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Western Illinois Leathernecks. Edgerson played under coaches Lou Saban and Joe Collier in college and professional football. He became a cornerstone of the AFL's Buffalo Bills' defense in the mid-1960s, at left cornerback. He was an AFL-All Star in 1965, and played on two AFL championship teams during the 1964 and 1965 seasons.
Early life
Edgerson was born on July 5, 1939, in Baxter County, Arkansas. He attended Rock Island High School, in Rock Island, Illinois, where he was a member of the football and track teams. He was a halfback on the school's football team, and rushed for 222 yards on 18 carries in one game during his senior year (1957). He was the only junior to be selected first-team All-Quad-City in 1956, after leading the conference in rushing with 882 yards on 94 carries (9.3 yards per carry) and setting a Rockland rushing record. He was second-team All-Quad-City in 1957. In 1957, he rushed for 563 yards (6.4 yards per carry), after missing the season's first two games.
Edgerson was a sprinter on Rock Island's track and field team. In April 1956, he was part of the sprint medley team that won the Davenport Relays. In 1957, he was a leader in the Quad-City Conference in the 100–yard dash, 220–yard dash, and the broad jump. In 1958, he was second statewide in the broad jump.
College career
Edgerson was recruited by at least 12 Division I college football programs, but strongly disliked school and originally intended to join the United States Marines after graduating high school. Those plans changed, and he instead attended Western Illinois University.
Edgerson tried out and became a member of the school's football team as a freshman (1958), under head coach Lou Saban and Rock Island native, defensive assistant coach Joel Collier; both of whom would later coach Edgerson in the AFL and NFL. In 1959, Edgerson was playing as a defensive back. He helped Western Illinois finish 9–0 that season, outscoring their opponents, 303–110. Again at defensive back in 1960, he helped Western Illinois to another undefeated season; the only consecutive undefeated seasons in school history. He was also a punter that season.
Edgerson played on offense in 1961 at running back. He originally played behind Leroy Jackson, but then became a starter halfway through the season; averaging 7.7 yards per carry, with 310 yards.
In April 1960, Edgerson won the broad jump in the Iowa Teachers Relays. He set a State College Relays broad jump record in 1960. He is reported to have run the 100–yard dash in 9.7 seconds. He signed with the Bills in late June, Saban stating he was going to use Edgerson on defense. The team's veterans refused to help him learn the cornerback position out of fear he might take their jobs; a fact that Edgerson believed limited his potential over time by making him more cautious than he otherwise might have been.
It has been reported that Edgerson was the Bills' starting left cornerback in 1963, The Bills lost a playoff game to the Boston Patriots, 26–8. Egerson started the game at right cornerback.
In 1964, he started 10 games at left cornerback, with four interceptions. On November 1, he once again intercepted a George Blanda pass against the Oilers, returning it for 91 yards. The Bills won the first nine games of the 1964 season, losing in the 10th game to the Patriots, 38–26. Edgerson suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee in that game. He was replaced by Charley Warner and Oliver Dobbins at left cornerback for the final four games of the regular season. The Bills won the 1964 AFL Championship Game over the San Diego Chargers, 20–7, with Warner starting at left cornerback.
Edgerson had knee surgery after the 1964 season. Edgerson was selected to play in the AFL All-Star game that season, for the first and only time in his career. Defensive coach Joe Collier devised a strategy to use double coverage against Alworth on every play. Edgerson was teamed with either strong safety Hagood Clarke or free safety George Saimes throughout the game in double covering Alworth on every play. He started only two games in 1966, and was replaced by Tom Janik who had eight interceptions that season. Later in the season, the team's doctors declared Edgerson capable of playing, but he could not regain his starting position over Janik; to which Edgerson observed, "They don't have to run on my knee". The Bills reached the 1966 AFL Championship Game, losing 31–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Janik started at left cornerback over Edgerson in that game.
In 1967, Edgerson started all 14 games at left cornerback, with two interceptions on the season. Janik became the Bills' strong safety, and had 10 interceptions in 10 starts. The Bills were 4–10 that season. In 1968, Edgerson started 12 games at left cornerback, with four interceptions. The Bills were 1–12–1 on the season. In the Bills only win that season, on September 29, Edgerson intercepted a pass by future Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown against the eventual Super Bowl III champion New York Jets. It was one of three Bills' interceptions returned for touchdowns in that game. In a late November game against the Denver Broncos, Edgerson intercepted a Marlin Briscoe pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. He tied for the AFL league lead in interceptions returned for touchdowns that season.
In 1969, the AFL's final season and Edgerson's final season with the Bills, he started all 14 games at left cornerback. He had one interception and four fumble recoveries. United Press International named Edgerson second-team All-AFL in 1969. During that season, the Bills played a November 30 game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Buffalo under extreme weather conditions of cold, ice, and snow. Bengals' coach Paul Brown said it was the worst weather conditions for a game he had ever seen in his 35 years of coaching. Bills' placekicker Bruce Alford, from Texas, said he "never saw such weather, much less played in it" (though he was able to kick three field goals in the game). Cincinnati Enquirer sportswriter Dick Forbes wrote "Edgerson's touchdown theft was the climax of a long afternoon of errors for the Bengals in a wild and ridiculous scramble played in a raging blizzard, in 25-degree temperature, on a field six inches deep in snow". Edgerson was awarded the game ball.
During his eight-year career in Buffalo, Edgerson started 87 of the 100 regular season games in which he appeared, with 23 interceptions. He started two playoff games for the Bills (1963 and 1965), including the 1965 AFL Championship Game; and also played in the 1966 AFL Championship Game.
Denver Broncos
At the end of August 1970, the Bills traded Edgerson to the Denver Broncos for a future draft pick. Saban was still the head coach in Denver and Collier was the Broncos' defensive backs coach. Edgerson played in only six games as a reserve defensive back for the Broncos before suffering a season- and career-ending injury, in an October 25 game against the San Francisco 49ers; with ligament damage to his knee that required surgery the next day.
Personal life
During the offseasons, Edgerson worked as a school teacher, among other jobs. After retiring from professional football, Edgerson continued to live in Buffalo. He worked as an assistant director with CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) in Erie County, New York; and then worked for 23 years as director of equity and diversity at Erie Community College (now SUNY Erie). In 1978, he started working as a marketing representative for IBM. Edgerson says in the forward "Cookie stood out like a giant . . . He looked like the Greek god Zeus had chiseled him out of the Rock of Gibraltar".
Legacy and honors
The AFL featured many dangerous receivers during Edgerson's career, including Hall of Fame receivers Don Maynard and Lance Alworth, among others. Maynard and Alworth told Edgerson he was the toughest cornerback they played against. Edgerson was possibly the only defender ever to catch the fast Alworth from behind in a game. In 2010, Edgerson joined eight former Bills teammates in becoming the 26th Bill added to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame. He was presented with this honor during a halftime ceremony of an October 3 game between the Bills and their longtime AFC rival New York Jets. Edgerson called it one of the greatest days of his life. He was inducted into the Quad-Cities Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1996, he was inducted into Western Illinois University's Athletic Hall of Fame. Edgerson also became president of the Bills alumni association. When his former college and professional defensive and head coach Joe Collier died in 2024, Edgerson said "The guy was outstanding . . . I don't like to call people geniuses. But he just knew things. He showed you things. He knew what people had the ability to do. Everything that he pointed out during the week would come true, and it made you a better ball player".