SEATTLE -- Sitting in the dugout on the sideline at Memorial Stadium, Santos Ramirez started to reflect.

Just a few months ago, his NFL dream was within reach. He was a backup safety with the Jets who played his way onto the depth chart after being signed as an undrafted rookie out of Arkansas.

Then everything changed. He was waived late in camp. His football career was instantly put on hold.

All of a sudden, instead of putting on a uniform on Sundays, he was working 10-hour shifts as a forklift driver in Irving, Texas.

“You know how the game goes, it’s a business,” the safety said. “I was released and out of football for a few months. I started driving a forklift. I had to get a real job and see what the real world is like. It was kind of discouraging to face that rejection.”

Ramirez was happy to have a job. The pay was good. But it wasn’t football.

“It was a humbling experience,” he said. “You’re working these 10, 12-hour shifts and it gets repetitive. You just feel like you’re not alive on the inside. You know you weren’t born to do this and it kind of eats at you a little bit.

“I’m not knocking anyone who drives a forklift, but if you have a passion for something, you’ve got to have no regrets in life and just go for it. Have no fear and just go for it.”