Eddie Royal

Royal caught 31 passes for 497 yards (16.0 avg.) with three touchdowns, he led the ACC and ranked 12th in the nation with a 13.2-yard punt return average (23–304) with one touchdown.

He added 431 yards on 19 kickoff returns (22.7 avg.) and five rushes for 24 yards.

He threw a 53-yard touchdown on a trick play against Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl.

Royal finished with 1,256 all-purpose yards (96.7 ypg.).

William Edward Royal (born May 21, 1986) is an American former football wide receiver and return specialist.

Royal played for the Virginia Tech Hokies from 2004 to 2007.

He had 2,004 yards from scrimmage in four years, averaging 14.0 yards per play.

In addition to those yards, as of 2021, he still held the record for most career punt return yards with 1,296 and was third in career kickoff return yards with 1,376.

In 2004, Royal received freshman All-America honors from The NFL Draft Report after hauling in 28 passes for 470 yards (16.8 avg.) with three touchdowns in 12 games (11 starts) as a true freshman.

He returned 25 punts for 274 yards (11.0 avg.) and gained 346 yards on 12 kickoff returns (28.8 avg.) and totaled 1,101 all-purpose yards.

Royal started all 13 games as a sophomore in 2005, finishing third on Virginia Tech with 27 receptions for 315 yards (11.7 avg.) with two scores while adding 10 rushes for 79 yards with one touchdown.

He returned 32 punts for 263 yards (8.2 avg.) and 14 kickoffs for 293 yards (20.9 avg.) to account for 950 all-purpose yards.

Royal played 13 games (9 starts) during his junior year in 2006 and picked up second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors while being named an honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated.

Royal received second-team All-ACC honors in 2006 and first-team All-ACC honors in 2007.

He played 13 games with 11 starts in 2007, earning first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors and second-team All-America accolades from The NFL Draft Report, he posted career highs in receptions (33–496) and receiving touchdowns (4).

The Hokies won the Coastal division and secured a bid the 2007 ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville, Florida, there, they faced a rematch with Boston College, champions of the Atlantic Division.

Matt Ryan was unable to seize the victory with two fourth-quarter interceptions, sealed the Hokie win and an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl game.

Royal finished the game with four receptions, 63 yards, and one touchdown.

He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

He also played in the 2008 Orange Bowl against Kansas.

Royal was drafted in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.

Royal started and played in his first NFL regular season game on September 8, 2008, in a 41–14 road win over the Oakland Raiders.

He had nine receptions for 146 yards and one touchdown in his debut.

Royal's 146 receiving yards were the most by any wide receiver in the first week of the 2008 NFL regular season.

His nine receptions were the most by a rookie making his debut for the Broncos.

Royal's first career touchdown catch came in the first quarter of the game on a 26-yard pass from former Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler.

Royal's opening week performance yielded voters on NFL.com to select him as the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week out of five finalists.

In Royal's second game of the season, he caught five passes for 37 yards and one touchdown, as part of a 39–38 Broncos home win over the San Diego Chargers.

He led the ACC and ranked 10th in the nation with a 14.7-yard punt return average (31–455) and scored two touchdowns on punt returns.

He added 14 kickoff returns for 316 yards (22.6 avg.) and eight rushes for 112 yards (14.0 avg.).

Finishing with 1,379 all-purpose yards (106.1 ypg.), he finished first in career all-purpose yards in school history (4,686).

He was also the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) all-time leader in punt return yards (1,296).

He played college football at Virginia Tech and was elected to its sports hall of fame in 2018.

Royal has also played for the San Diego Chargers and Chicago Bears.

Royal first attended South Lakes High School before going to Westfield High School in Chantilly, Virginia, where he played for most of his high school football career.

He received All-America honors from PrepStar and SuperPrep (who named Royal the top high school player in the state of Virginia).

He also earned The Washington Post All-Metropolitan player of the year, 1st team All-met, 1st team All-state, 1st team All-region, and 1st team All-district honors.

While a senior at Westfield High School, Royal, along with future Virginia Tech teammate Sean Glennon and future West Point fullback Max Palmatier and future Penn State running back Evan Royster, led his team to an undefeated season record (14–0) en route to the Virginia Division 6 AAA State Championship.

While at Westfield, Royal also competed in track & field.

He posted bests of 6.48 seconds in the 55-meter dash and 6.52 meters (21–3.75) in the long jump.