Urschel earned a Master’s in mathematics on his way to a 4.0 GPA at Penn State, but decided to enter the NFL after he was drafted in 2014. In a piece published in The Players’ Tribune last week, Urschel explained why he decided to put his brilliant mind at risk by playing such a violent sport at the highest level.
“I play because I love the game. I love hitting people,” he wrote. “There’s a rush you get when you go out on the field, lay everything on the line and physically dominate the player across from you. This is a feeling I’m (for lack of a better word) addicted to, and I’m hard-pressed to find anywhere else.”