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Former football player Ray Edwards says he’s a “do what I want” kind of guy. But don’t get it twisted, the professional boxer thinks more about his family and community than anything else. Read our exclusive chat with Ray to find out about his career transition, what his fiancée won’t let him get away with, what kind of dad he is, and the thing that he admits being his kryptonite!

Mommynoire: You played in the NFL, but it’s all boxing no?

Ray Edwards: Strictly boxing and modeling.

Tell us about the modeling, did that start from you being on the football field and someone spotted you?

That just came from me wanting to have fun. Football is a very taxing sport and a lot of people said I should model so I just did it. [laughs]

Just that easy, huh?

Definitely football gets you in the door because being an athlete means you’re known more than the average person, of course. But like I said, it’s fun for me, I love to joke around and just have a good time. I’m very comfortable in my own skin like everybody should be no matter what you look like .

So what kind of modeling do you do?

I’m more about whatever moves me, there are no boundaries…except nude. My fiancée and wife-to-be would be like “negative” on that one.

Speaking of which, are you engaged now?

Yeah I’m engaged now.

Congrats! Besides the modeling tell me how boxing came to be your new career.

It’s always been a passion of mine since I was a little kid, So I was steady training for it when I was playing football, some of my coaches didn’t like it, but I’m a “do what I want” kind of guy sometimes [laughs] so I just continued to do it. Once I got to the NFL I just kept training, and then when things started going north in the NFL with the lock out and not knowing the future, I just kept at it. When I got released out of my contract in 2011, I kept going full on with it.

I love football but boxing has given me more freedom to be a dad. Football is very taxing and very hard on you being a father, pretty much, and being a husband, or anything, due to the demand of it. So boxing gives me more freedom. I don’t have my youngest son, he lives with his mother in Minnesota, so it give me the freedom to see him more often. My youngest son, Emmanuel, is three, my older son, Abel, just turned five.

What other ventures are you working on?

I’m working on a clothing line, True Ink, I want to change how we look at clothing in the urban community and how we look at ourselves in the urban community…just being more positive and striving to do better. There’s no reason for anything to go on that we don’t want to go on, we have that type of power in our communities to make that big of a difference.

That’s a great message to send to our youth, anything we can do helps.

Exactly. Just to inspire others and let people know that you can do anything you put your mind to. It’s all about your mindset. Positive things can happen.

How did you get that mindset? Was it how you were raised?

It came at a young age, I was blessed to have that kind of focus. I saw my mother struggle—I was raised by my mom until I was like 10 years old—but just to see the struggle that family members went through with dead-end jobs and not having careers, I always told myself that I wasn’t going to be like that. [I wanted to] be able to take care of my family, to be able to–because my dad wasn’t in my life—work hard enough so that my sons wouldn’t need to rely on anybody else.

I never used the excuse, well my mom and dad wasn’t there, people nowadays rely on excuses instead of heading out there and trying to do things for themselves.

Sometimes people don’t believe they can take themselves out of a situation they’ve been born into…

Nothing is foretold if you believe in yourself.

What kind of dad are you? Strict? A pushover?

How can I say this? My fiancé says I’m very authoritative. I don’t take too much. I’m not a pushover.

But they’re four and five, how much could they really be doing?

[Laughs] Two boys? Yeah, they definitely are a handful, they’re great and get along but they definitely have their moments. They want to figure out who is going to try daddy or mommy today. I let them know, “this ain’t that type of party.”

What do you guys do for fun?

Any and everything they want to do. We’ll go see the latest kid movie that’s out. Got to Dave & Busters. Whatever they’re in the mood for…go in the backyard and just have fun.

Do you see either of your sons being athletes?

I’m not going to force them but they’ll be in shape so they might as well do something, but I’m not going to force them.

You’re engaged now, but at some point you were a single dad who was dating. What did your fiancé have to go through to let you know she was right to be in their lives?

Just a mother, someone who is caring, loving attentive just like I am.

Were you dating women who were also mothers?

Well my fiancé is the mother of my oldest son. When we met she had a son and is a great mother. We didn’t bring the kids into the mix until we got a lot more serious. So that let me know that not just everyone is around her kid.

Besides the boxing and clothing line, any other projects?

I’m working on a promotional company, Lionheart Promotions, with my boxing. A lot of promotional companies take advantage of the fighters. I’m self-promoted, I don’t work with anyone. I set my own fights. Can’t nobody tell you what you want to do—you know how you want your career to go, at least I do. Playing football, it’s their way or the highway, pretty much. If you know what you’re doing you don’t need to rely on anyone to make the decisions.

Who do you rely on for advice or tips? It seems like a lot to do all yourself.

It’s a lot but I work for a manager as well, but I know the ins and outs of the game and make it happen. Like James Brown said, why can’t I be the show and the business? Because I look at it this way. Everyone thinks I’m boxing because I’m broke—which I’m not—I could be retired, stay-at-home dad, but I have bigger goals. I want to reach out to more kids and give kids the opportunity to become more, and also where they have a safe-haven to go. I don’t fight for me, I fight for my family and my community.

How will you be spending the holidays? Cooking?

The wife won’t let me do that. She tells me to sit down and I don’t have any problem doing that. I’m looking forward to the macaroni and cheese, and beans, and sweets. Whatever she’s making, I’m ready for it. But sweets? That’s my kryptonite. I’m a junk food junkie—I’m a cookie, brownie guy.

What are your kids asking for on Christmas?

They love Ninja Turtles so I’ll be the best dad in the world if I hook them up with those. This is the age when they’re easy, it’s the teenage years when the crazy demands come. But I’m loving it.

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