Aaron Edwards is eternally grateful to American singer Lionel Richie for helping the former AFL player earn his first nomination for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off-field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes; the National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. Kiwi international Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while NRL player Manase Fainu is the latest recipient.
The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame honours former players and players who received media attention in previous seasons, for similarly scandalous behaviour, and its inductees include Ben Cousins and Julian O’Neill.
Edwards was ebullient in his praise of the ageless star upon learning of his Frownlow nomination.
“I’m dancing on the ceiling,” proclaimed Edwards, who earned his nomination after being ejected from Richie’s concert for drunkenness in 2007. This incident also earned Edwards a fine from the North Melbourne Kangaroos.
“I can’t slow down,” Edwards then crooned as he celebrated his second and third Frownlow nomination, which he earned for speeding and drink driving offences in both January and May of 2009.
The first driving offence saw Edwards suspended by the Kangaroos for four matches and fined $5000, while the second offence, during which he refused a breath test, landed him a $1500 fine and the loss of his licence for four years.
Edwards then belted out one of Richie’s greatest hits “All Night Long” in honour of the time he was thrown in a police cell in 2012 for public drunkenness after he attempted to party on following the conclusion of the Cox Plate horse racing carnival.
At the time of the Cox Plate incident, Edwards was only three days into a new contract with the Richmond Tigers.
The Frownlow Medal team is now awaiting a response to their request for Richie to perform at the grand awards ceremony later this year, where Edwards will learn if he has done enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 