“One of the best jobs you can have.”

Contrary to conventional wisdom, playing in the National Football League isn’t necessarily a glamorous job. Most players aren’t celebrities with multimillion-dollar contracts, high-priced agents, and feature stories in Sports Illustrated. Rather, they’re the workhorses, the guys who make it possible for the superstars to throw touchdown passes, break away for a long dash to the goal line, or nail the quarterback for a loss. Often, they’re swapped back and forth among teams, like trading cards. One injury can end a career, which on average lasts about two to three years in the NFL. Then what do you do? Job security is tenuous at best, as Keith Fitzhugh knows from experience.

Fitzhugh (pictured), a standout safety at Mississippi State University who was named by USA Today as one of the top 200 college football players in the nation, and played as a senior in the East-West Shrine Bowl, knows the drill. After graduating in 2009 from Mississippi State with B.A. in communications including a minor in marketing, he was signed by the New York Jets. But within a very short period, he was released three times—twice by the Jets (including once in this year’s pre-season), and once by the Baltimore Ravens. Just a few days ago, the Jets invited him to return as a defensive back.

Fitzhugh’s response? He’d rather be learning a Norfolk Southern operating employee rulebook than a Jets playbook, as the United Transportation Union reports on its website.

Fitzhugh, 24, is a conductor trainee on Norfolk Southern’s Atlanta North District. He has applied for UTU membership when he completes his probationary period in January. He “knows the value of steady work and regular paychecks in an economy thrown for a loss,” writes UTU Public Relations Director Frank N. Wilner (an avid sports fan and diehard New York Yankees follower). “Fitzhugh began conductor training with NS in September, established seniority in November, and looks forward to membership in UTU Local 511 in Atlanta. He was raised in nearby Hampton, Ga.”

“You can have a fine living working for the railroad,” Fitzhugh told Wilner. “For me, having job security is important. Working for Norfolk Southern is one of the best, [most] prestigious jobs you can have. I don’t want to give up what I have now, go back to playing football a couple of weeks, and then be released again. There is no job security [in the NFL]. Why risk losing a good job with Norfolk Southern? I have to look out for what’s best for me and my family.” He’s helping to support his disabled father, a former truck driver.

The burly, affable young man, who’d rather be pulling coupler pins and ensuring his Thoroughbred train’s safety than being a safety and knocking the wind out of high-priced thoroughbred quarterbacks, is apparently enjoying his new career. “I think riding on a locomotive is one of the coolest things,” Fitzhugh told Wilner. “I talked with my parents about it. They have always thought highly of Norfolk Southern, where it’s safety first.”

“To sacrifice what he did for his family is the most unselfish thing I’ve heard by a player in sports,” Fitzhugh’s agent told the Associated Press.

Obviously, for Keith Fitzhugh, railroading, particularly on Norfolk Southern, is no sacrifice.

Fitzhugh has been featured on national news broadcasts. CLICK HERE to view a CNN video.

William C. Vantuono, Editor