When he was originally hurt in a flag-football game, Robert Edwards was told his career might be over.

Robert Edwards peddled furiously, unaware of the idyllic conditions that surrounded him. Escaping his past and trying to reclaim his future, he veered off the road to more challenging terrain near the intramural fields.

"There was sand and rocks, tree stumps, roots growing out of the ground, little bridges to cross over," Edwards said later, slumped in a chair after his half-hour ride, beads of sweat emerging from beneath a Boston Red Sox cap and dripping onto his New England Patriots shirt. "You really have to concentrate."

He doesn't allow the natural thought -- "Why me?" -- to creep into his psyche. Oh, sure, it did back in February, when he was sprawled on a Hawaii beach, the grotesque form of his left knee threatening to take away the only thing he's ever wanted to do: run with a football.

These days, the 24-year-old Edwards is facing the biggest challenge of his life with the confidence of someone who's been through this before and the unwavering faith of someone who feels his latest misfortune happened for a reason.

"I just look at it as a chance to let me tell young people my story," he said. "I tell them how quick and easy it is to lose everything, so give all the glory to God. When you look at it in that aspect, this is not a negative."

It would be easy for Edwards to throw up his hands and surrender.

As a child growing up in Tennille, a town of 1,500 about 60 miles east of Macon, he wore corrective braces on his legs and was told by doctors he would never be able to play sports -- or ride a bicycle, for that matter.

By the time he got to Georgia -- having cast off his braces a la Forrest Gump -- he had a breathtaking mix of speed and power, but his greatest triumphs were usually accompanied by discouraging injuries.

Edwards was the leading rusher in the nation through the second game of his sophomore year with the Bulldogs, only to break his foot and miss the rest of the season. On the first run of his senior year, he severely sprained his ankle and missed most of three games.

Returning for what was left of his college career, he ran for 908 yards and showed enough potential to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the New England Patriots. Some people questioned taking a guy with a history of injuries, but Edwards seemed to resolve that issue by rushing for 1,115 yards as a rookie.

Then, on Feb. 5, he agreed to play in a flag football game on Waikiki Beach, one of the events leading up to the Pro Bowl. It turned out to be a life-changing event when Edwards went up for a pass with two other players, fell to the sand and writhed in pain. His body went one way, his knee the other.

"I thought to myself, 'Why? Why?' " Edwards recalled. "I went through the whole season without getting hurt, then I'm playing a game that's supposed to be fun and this happens."

Soon, it was apparent that not only was the 1999 season over before it ever began, his career was in jeopardy. Edwards ripped apart all four major ligaments in his left knee. More ominously, he tore the artery that supplies blood to the lower leg and couldn't move his foot or wiggle his toes because of nerve damage.

"I thought to myself, 'Why? Why?' I went through the whole season without getting hurt, then I'm playing a game that's supposed to be fun and this happens." -- Robert Edwards

By the time he returned to his alma mater to begin rehabilitation, two major operations had left parallel, 6-inch scars across the top of his knee and another long scar on the inside. The knee was bloated like a basketball. The muscle tone in his once-powerful leg had vanished.

"I could barely walk," Edwards said.

He bought a house near campus to make it easier for him to meet his five-days-a-week rehabilitation schedule, which is being supervised by the university's medical staff. He's also spending ample time with his younger brother, Terrence, one of the Bulldogs' most promising freshmen.

"We've not really been together since his high school days," Terrence Edwards said. "I think God sent him here to watch over me."

Robert Edwards arrives at the training room each weekday morning about 9 to start therapy. Then, he moves to the weight room, challenging his knee with presses, extensions and curls. After that, he jumps on his bike and pedals seven or eight miles through campus and nearby neighborhoods. In just the past week, he's added martial arts to his routine.

Edwards really pushes himself by running on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The knee is usually hurting a little more than usual on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays -- which he views as a good sign.

"The nerve is coming back faster than expected," Edwards said. "The sensation is back. I can move my foot. My knee looks like a knee again. I can run. Everything is moving forward."

Ron Courson, director of sports medicine at Georgia, has worked closely with Edwards during his rehabilitation. The first goal is restoring normal function to the mangled knee. After that, he can worry about bringing it up to NFL standards.

While the Patriots' doctors have hinted Edwards is finished, Courson won't rule out a complete recovery. He said it could take roughly 18 months for the damaged nerves to heal.

"As long as you have the human spirit, you'll always have someone who can overcome the odds," Courson said. "Five or six months ago, I would have said he'd never come back. Then you see where he is now, and there might be a realistic chance he could come back."

He is working with a highly motivated patient who has overcome serious injuries before and is willing to do whatever it takes to make it back to the Patriots.

"That's the kind of person who can come back from such a significant injury," Courson said. "It takes a lot of motivation and fortitude to stay the course. You have to see the big picture."

Edwards knows he won't play this season, and he might not be ready to go by the start of the 2000 season, either. He's willing to be patient.

"I don't have a timetable," he said. "I just take it day by day. I've already improved drastically. I'll keep my head up, just keep doing what I'm doing and let time take its course."

Edwards graduated from Georgia with a degree in consumer economics and should have financial security from his five-year contract with the Patriots, worth about $5.75 million, including a $2 million signing bonus.

"He's really in a no-lose situation," Courson said. "He can work hard and play this thing out. Maybe he can come back and reach his goal. If not, he's secure and comfortable and can do whatever he wants with the rest of his life."

Edwards has no regrets about the path he has taken, going so far as to say he would play in that infamous flag football game all over again

"That injury was meant to happen," he said. "I'm sure of that. I don't look at it happening because of the sand. Everyone out there was playing on the same sand, and I'm the only who got hurt. I don't blame anything."

No matter what happens from here, Edwards is at peace.

"If I don't play again, it won't be man's decision," he said. "It will be God's decision."