At one point, Luis Perez wanted to be a pro bowler. Not a Pro Bowl player in the NFL. An actual pro bowler.

Perez recalls always having a football in his hands as a child and dreamed of one day being a quarterback. But when he tried out for the team at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista, California, the coaches wanted him to play wide receiver and "the love kind of went away" for the game. He decided to pour his energy into bowling with an eye on becoming a professional.

He bowled for the first time at a birthday party for his father Juan, who was a professional soccer player in Mexico. The younger Perez was 9 or 10 years old at the time and was hooked. With 12 perfect games on his résumé, Perez was on the right path until he was struck by the energy and excitement of watching his friends play in the last home football game of their senior year.

No tape. No problem.

Perez turned to YouTube videos to learn proper throwing form and how the game's best quarterbacks played. He wanted to emulate everything from footwork to arm delivery to cadence in the huddle to delivering pep talks to his teammates. Yes, Perez was still intent on becoming a quarterback. He enrolled at Southwestern College and refused to play any other position than quarterback despite coaches' requests. He catapulted from ninth on the depth chart – NINTH – to playing by the third week of the 2013 season due to injuries and transfers. A starter the following season, Perez led the Jaguars to a conference title. After the second season at Southwestern, Perez hoped to land with a Division I program but transferred to Texas A&M-Commerce. Not the Aggies of the SEC, but the Lions of the Lone Star Conference.

Nonetheless, Perez pushed on and guided Texas A&M-Commerce to a national title and captured the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Heisman of Division II football, as a senior. Perez described his development as taking "baby steps," but it's quite a feat to go from no experience to one of the best players in the college ranks.