Less than two years ago, Maurice Alexander worked as a janitor in the Edward Jones Dome. Some of those duties included cleaning up after Rams home games.

“Every time that I went to work, I always stood at the end of that field, and I just looked at it,” Alexander said. “I just looked at it like this could be my dream spot. And look where I’m at now.”

As of late Saturday morning, he’s in the NFL, playing for his hometown team. The stadium he once cleaned up is now his playground after the Rams selected Alexander, a safety from Utah State via Eureka High in suburban St. Louis, in the fourth round.

In 2012, when Alexander was working at the dome, the dream was more like a nightmare. That nightmare included 45 days in a Utah jail after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault resulting in bodily injury.

Early in 2012 while at Utah State, Alexander was at a large party when the crowd started pushing and shoving. According to an account in the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Alexander and a Utah State teammate, running back Joey DeMartino, were in the scrum pushing each other.