After seven years of service, Lopez still chasing his dream

By: Jeff Westfall

Posted: 8/26/08

When Edwin Lopez was given his University of Arizona uniform, it felt different in his hands than the one he had worn for the past seven years. That one didn't have his name on the back, and it sure didn't breathe as well. There was only one name, and it was on the front - the U.S. Air Force.

Last season, Lopez, a seven-year U.S. Air Force veteran, walked onto the Arizona football team as a linebacker trying to chase down a dream he has had since he was 17 years old: the dream of playing college football.

"I made the decision the year before I got out that I was going to go to school full-time when I got out of the military," Lopez said. "I was going to walk on somewhere to get on a football team. I made my mind up."

As a teen, Lopez attended four different high schools while his single mother moved his family anywhere she could find work. The constant moving hindered his ability to be recruited as Division I football prospect.

Nonetheless, Lopez received interest from a handful of Division II schools. He chose however to follow the footsteps of his older sister and join the Air Force.

"What I did was I looked at the scenario and it wasn't a guarantee that I was going to college," Lopez said. "I was an 18-year-old kid, very low income family, I would need a vehicle and money to eat and the Air Force provided me with stability."

Lopez spent the next seven years thousands of miles away from the Friday night football games he had once lived for. Working as an Air Force civil engineer and setting up military bases, Lopez traveled across five continents, serving in both Korea and Iraq. Unable to escape lingering memories of high school football, Lopez longed to be fighting in different types of trenches.

"I still remember my last game in high school, the last game when we played our biggest rival," Lopez said. "It pretty much ran through my mind that that could be the last time I would play football."

Feeling his time in the Air Force coming to an end, Lopez began sculpting his body for the football field. Already on a military conditioning program, Lopez took up weight training and powerlifting to ready himself for the grind of college football. He reported to Wildcats' camp at 5 feet 10 inches, 237 pounds.

"It felt great, I mean at 26 years old I like being able to hang with the younger guys no problem," Lopez said. "I came in my first practice trying to make a statement with having a physical presence and anyone who got in my way I had to take care of. It took a little while to get the basics down but then the game came back to me right away."

Lopez made the roster as a walk-on linebacker in 2007, but did not play. The pass-heavy Wildcats went 5-7 in its 2007 campaign. In 2008, Lopez has moved to fullback to add depth to the Wildcats backfield, a position Lopez feels he has a natural body and skill set for.

With a low center of gravity and wide-build, Lopez has the physical makeup of an ideal run blocker.

"My body structure is perfect for fullback, and I feel that the coaches thought that was a position for me that could benefit the entire team plus myself," Lopez said. "I'm definitely trying to bring hard hitting blocking to the team and whatever opportunity and play I get I am down for."

Lopez may never play a down for the Wildcats. He may never have his "Rudy" moment, as the walk-on who took the field he dreamed about his entire life. His story may be better, though, as Lopez said he is a brother on two great teams.

"It is like a family because once you're out on the field you are going to war against an opponent and you want to win," Lopez said. "You have to win together."

jwestfal@syr.edu