79 students at 22 college campuses across the country have received $10,000 each in scholarships, thanks to San Francisco 49s’ Braylon Edwards, writes Chris Chase at Yahoo Sports.

Back in 2005 Edwards announced he’d give $10,000 in scholarships to 100 eighth-graders if they could graduate high school with over a 2.5 GPA and 15 hours community service. 79 lived up to the remit and have begun their first year of college, winning scholarships of $10,000 each from his Advance 100 program.

“Without this scholarship, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Bowling Green freshman David Gholston told ESPN’s Rick Reilly.

Many of the students who benefited from the scholarships are attending Ohio universities, but some of the students have gone as far as Harvard, Cornell and Johns Hopkins.

Braylon Edwards’ Advance 100 program was developed by himself and his mother as way to help out others.

Edwards is said to have not expected so many of the students to fit the criteria for the award, but was more than happy to see so many do so well.

The 79 winning students were provided with laptops and other practical supplies to help them out when they arrived on campus, an extra gift from Edwards.

“I’m supposed to give people a chance like I was given a chance,” Edwards said.

Edwards currently plays for the San Francisco 49ers and is earning a $1 million base salary for the year, more than covering what he’ll pay the 79 students that he promised to help years ago, reports Chase.