Just a few years after hanging up his NFL jersey, a former college football star is wearing a Clayton County firefighter's uniform.
Kregg Lumpkin, who played ball with the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and other teams, graduated from the Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services's recruit program in November.
He played at the University of Georgia before playing professional football and becoming a firefighter, the Clayton News Daily reports.
Former Georgia teammate Michael Cooper encouraged Lumpkin to join the department after he got on the job in Clayton County.
“Coming in, my thought process of being a firefighter simulated on a lower level as far as playing football,” Lumpkin said. “It’s a brotherhood. You come in with your brothers, you work out together with your brothers, you go to recruit school. You’re in a family environment which is close-knit, you’re going to look out for your family as well as in the NFL."
Lumpkin went through the 12-week academy, which included 450 hours of training and 39 tests.
“The amount of detail you have to know and continue to know, I’m constantly learning every day, just trying to make sure that not only you stay safe but you’re helping your family stay safe and protecting the Clayton County Fire Department brand,” Lumpkin told the paper.
He said the physical training required in the recruit academy was different than what he was used to in his football days.
“It was on a different level dealing with hoses and learning how to catch hydrants and pulling hoses and going up ladders,” he said.
“A lot of people don’t understand the physical nature and the physical requirements it takes for all of our employees,” Clayton County Fire Chief Landy Merkison said in the interview. “While they’re not athletes in the true sense of the word, really they are. When you look at the amount of stress they put their bodies under, the gear they are required to wear.”
His next challenge will be passing the paramedic program.
Lumpkin, who said he dreamed of being a firefighter as a kid, also played for the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccanneers during his NFL career.
