David Edwards, Who Inspired Episode of ‘Friday Night Lights,’ Dies at 20

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David Edwards, Who Inspired Episode of ‘Friday Night Lights,’ Dies at 20

He was for real. He wasn't just someone's imagination.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 1, 2008

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — David Edwards, who was paralyzed during a 2003 high school football playoff game and whose injury was fictionalized in the TV show “Friday Night Lights,” died here on Wednesday. He was 20.

Edwards, who had pneumonia since late last year, died after slipping into a coma, his grandfather said.

Edwards was a junior defensive back at San Antonio Madison when the fourth vertebra of his neck snapped in a collision with an Austin Westlake wide receiver while they were reaching for a pass during a November 2003 playoff game.

Peter Berg, director and producer of “Friday Night Lights,” was attending the game. In the pilot episode, a high school football player breaks his neck and is paralyzed while trying to make a tackle.

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