Super Bowl MVP once considered joining Tri-State fire department

ROSS TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - Former NFL star wide receiver Julian Edelman says he always dreamed of playing football at the highest level, but not a highly touted player coming out of college, he considered other options - like joining the Ross Township Fire Department.

Edelman’s path to Super Bowl MVP seems like something you would see on TV.

The Bay Area native spent a year playing junior college football before transferring to Kent State University in Northeast Ohio where he played three seasons as a quarterback.

During his college days, Edelman says he pondered what career path he should take. That journey took him to Ross Township around 2007, where he met with Chief Steve Miller to consider working with the department, he wrote in a 2016 Facebook post.

Edelman said in a recent appearance on Kevin Hart’s YouTube show: “When I walked off that field, I was thinking of new careers. I went to like a firehouse in Cincinnati, looked at some stuff like that.”

Edelman said he was grateful that Chief Miller welcomed him and was willing to work with him.

In the end, the future Super Bowl MVP said he decided to follow his NFL dream. It is safe to say he made the right call.

Edelman was not invited to the 2009 NFL Combine, but despite that, the New England Patriots chose him in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft... as a wide receiver.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The man, who once thought about joining the Ross Township Fire Department, became one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets.

His catch in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons is one of the most iconic plays in NFL history.

Two seasons later, he was named MVP of Super Bowl LIII.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.

Copyright 2023 WXIX. All rights reserved.