Newman was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in Syosset, New York, and Woodbury, New York, and is Jewish.[4][5] Once, when asked how he got up for a goal-line stand, he responded with a Yiddish word to describe the process, saying: "You gotta suck it up from the kishkes."[4][5] He played high school football and wrestled for Syosset High School in the late 1960s.[6]
College career in football and wrestling
He enrolled in 1969 at Duke University on an athletic scholarship. He participated for Duke in two sports: twice earning All Conference honors in football as an offensive lineman and defensive lineman, and twice as a heavyweight wrestler winning the ACC heavyweight championship.[5] He was a Football All-American in 1971, and a Football All-ACC in 1971 and 1972.[7] In 1973, Newman graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology.[8]
Football career
The Miami Dolphins drafted Newman in the sixth round of the 1973 NFL draft.
In his football career, the Dolphins went to three Super Bowls: Minnesota Vikings (1973 win), Washington Redskins (1982 loss), and San Francisco 49ers (1984 loss); and Newman was a three-time All Pro and was selected by his peers to the Pro Bowl four times (1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984).[2][7] He did not play the 1985 season with his third serious knee injury, after having overcome thyroid cancer earlier in his career.[9] A knee injury in his 13th season with the Dolphins in 1985 ended his career.[7]
During his NFL career, Newman spearheaded a community drive for blood donations on behalf of the South Florida Blood Service. This and other charitable efforts resulted in the renaming of Northwest 17th Street (Miami, Florida) to "Ed Newman Street."[11]
In 1984, while playing pro football by day, Newman enrolled in the night division of the University of Miami School of Law.[14][13] After graduating in 1987, Newman practiced law as a litigation attorney for seven years. In 1994, Newman was elected County Court Judge in Miami, Florida, and began his first term in January 1995. He retired in 2022, after serving for decades at the Richard E. Gerstein Criminal Justice Building alongside his bailiff and former Dolphins teammate Tony Nathan.[2]