SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Calif. college student is leaving a possible pro football career to join the firefighting academy.
Jeff Badger, a senior at Sacramento State University, will graduate in the spring with a degree in sociology, but has no dreams of going into professional football despite an impressive career in the sport, according to the Sacramento Bee.
He led his high school team to the state championship game and was a decorated athlete, winning several state and city titles.
Badger says he is looking forward to the future, in hopes of becoming a firefighter. He believes there’s a lot of similarity between playing defense as a football player and fighting fires.
“Going into a game or a fire, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Badger said. “But if you work as a team, you’ll make the other team punt or you’ll put the fire out.” “I think I’ll be good at it,” Badger added.