When he arrived in Arizona two weeks after he was selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, running back Chase Edmonds was asked what he plans to do with his rookie signing bonus.
"My sister has some student debt, so I really want to pay that off for her," he said.
It's a goal Edmonds had in mind for a long time, and still intends on fulfilling.
"Really for me, that’s like my angel," Edmonds said Tuesday about his sister Morgan Howell, a Chandler resident and Arizona State alum. "My sister’s taken care of me all my life, really, and it’s the least that I can do for her, so really she doesn’t have to (worry about) anything else and she can kind of just live her life and do as she pleases."
Per ESPN's Josh Weinfuss, Howell attended NC State before earning her master's degree in counseling at ASU. She now lives in Chandler and works as a therapist, counseling teens on tough topics such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. "Every month, Morgan slowly pays back those loans with an installment between $360 and $380," Weinfuss wrote.
Edmonds grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and attended Fordham University. His rookie contract with the Cardinals is a four-year deal worth $3.36 million. Per ESPN Stats & Info, that includes a signing bonus worth just over $450,000.
Edmonds said Morgan wasn't surprised when he made the offer to make her debt disappear. "That’s just something I always talked about with her, honestly," he said.
But Edmonds said erasing her sister's debt is the least he can do to begin paying back everything she's done for him.
"I must have been like nine, and I used to be scared to go downstairs. So I called my mom who was at work and make Morgan go downstairs and make me a sandwich or something," he said with a laugh. "I owe her."
