When his Georgia Tech career ended at the TaxSlayer Bowl last New Year’s Eve, defensive end Rod Rook-Chungong had what seemed like a no-brainer of a next step. The pursuit of a job in the NFL – the chance to draw a six-figure salary and live a dream – would seem a matter of course for a two-year starter on a power-conference team that he helped win nine games as a senior.
An effective edge-setting run stopper, Rook-Chungong turned it down, though, starting a job with Mondelez (formerly Kraft Foods) in January. He makes visits to grocery stores, Targets and Walmarts to pitch floor displays and his employer’s array of Nabisco snacks.
Former teammates such as quarterback Justin Thomas, defensive tackle Patrick Gamble and kicker Harrison Butker will hope their NFL careers will launch with this weekend’s draft, which starts Thursday night. It will come and go without Rook-Chungong, though.
“I definitely loved what football does for me, but I know I’m bigger than football,” he said. “I’m not just a football player.”
He is one of a number of Tech players who have made the same choice in recent seasons, seeing their identities more broadly than football, seizing opportunities in the real world and walking away from a shot at professional football with their bodies intact.
“The lifespan in the league is so short,” former A-back Charles Perkins said. “My thought process was, let me get started on my career.”
The vast majority of Yellow Jackets players who have earned spots in the starting lineup have at least worked out at Tech’s pro day in hopes of playing in the NFL. But in recent seasons, Perkins and Rook-Chungong have been joined by former starters such as Trey Braun, Eason Fromayan, Shawn Green, Deon Hill and Tony Zenon in choosing to end their football careers at Tech. In each case, their likelihood of getting into an NFL camp was small, but not zero.
With size and a willingness to sacrifice his body for the team, Perkins probably had a chance to make it into the NFL as a special-teams player. But he had torn his labrum earlier in his career and had had shoulder problems going back to high school. He realized he wasn’t going to be a draft pick and recognized the odds were long. He thought it wiser to hang it up.
His final season, which included wins over Georgia and then Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl and a season-ending top-10 ranking, provided a dream finish.
“I was ready (to stop playing),” he said. “Now, if I would have went out on a sour note, it would have been a lot tougher to get through. I still smile (about the Orange Bowl). I’m still smiling right now thinking about it.”
Like Rook-Chungong, Perkins began a job as a sales associate with Mondelez shortly after his final game. He had even been working there part-time during the 2014 season. Since then, he has been promoted three times and is now a customer category manager, position whose responsibilities include representing the Nabisco brand to 260 Publix stores, including metro Atlanta, and 201 Ingles stores in six states.
“Anytime you shop in a Publix, think of me when you’re on the snack aisle,” Perkins said wryly. “It’s a lot of fun being in this field. It brings me back to my competitive days.”
Like Rook-Chungong and Perkins, Green gave up his dream of playing in the NFL in part because he didn’t want to subject his body to more abuse. Green had had surgeries to repair a broken fibula and torn labrum.
As is the case with Rook-Chungong, having jobs or other opportunities likely made the choice easier. Green, Perkins, Hill and Zenon, all management graduates, all had jobs lined up before their senior seasons ended with the Orange Bowl win in 2014. Braun was in the middle of earning his MBA at Tech when his Tech career concluded in 2015. Business admnistration degree in hand, Fromayan made the unusual decision this past season to give up his final year of eligibility to pursue a career as a NASCAR pit-crew member.
“I just had to make the decision, and thank God I went to Tech,” Green said. “I had the education to back it up.”
Tech is not the only school where this happens. Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert, for instance, made the same choice to pass on a chance to play in the NFL. But at a school that prides itself on, among other things, unconventionality and preparedness for the workplace, the path has a fitting niche.
Coach Paul Johnson has applauded those who have made that choice, saying that a Tech degree sets up their post-football futures.
Green, who first worked in sales for Kellogg, is now a realtor with Keller Williams, mostly covering Gwinnett County, where he grew up. His goal is to become the top realtor in Gwinnett.
“I know it’s going to take time, but I have the patience,” he said. “I’ll be alright.”
Rook-Chungong is not looking back. He attended Tech’s pro day in March to support his teammates, unbothered by any thoughts of what might have been.
“It was more fun seeing my teammates going and trying to fulfill their dreams, like Pat (Gamble) and Freddie (Burden) and P.J. (Davis) and Justin (Thomas) and Francis (Kallon),” Rook-Chungong said. “I was more excited for them than for myself.”
Likewise, those who preceded Rook-Chungong are undoubtedly excited for him. That includes Perkins, whose counsel Rook-Chungong sought as he made his decision and whose connections helped him get his job.
“I always say, ‘Go ahead and take it as far as you can, but always have a plan,’” Perkins said. “I was fortunate to go to a great school like Tech that introduced me to so much more than football. It’s been an awesome ride so far.”
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