Retired New England Patriots offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi has delivered three Super Bowl championships and survived cancer, but through all the ups and downs he never forgot about his education.

The 43-year-old returned to Southern Connecticut State University on Monday to receive his degree in liberal studies he started working toward 22 years ago before leaving to seize an opportunity in the NFL. Andruzzi was then diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2007, further delaying the accomplishment.

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“I once told my grandmother, ‘I’m not just going for football,’” Andruzzi told the Hartford Courant following the ceremony. “Football derailed me from school. Cancer really derailed me. My grandmother, my mother, my father, I always told them, ‘I didn’t go to school for nothing.'"

Andruzzi told the paper his life has taught him that "hard work and dedication is going to push you in life." He recalled how a coach once told him he wouldn’t last one day in the NFL.

The former offensive lineman would have a 10-year career and play in 122 games. He started with the Green Bay Packers before achieving three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots. The Staten Island, N.Y., native retired in 2006 after two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

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He has also set up a foundation to raise money for cancer research to help others battling the disease.

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Andruzzi’s selflessness went viral in 2013 after a photo circulated online of him carrying a woman to safety during the Boston Marathon bombing, which he was attending to support runners raising money for his foundation.

Andruzzi isn’t the first Patriots player who has gone back to school. In May, wide receiver Julian Edelman completed his degree started in 2006 at Kent State University, fulfilling a long-kept promise made to his parents.