Getty Images

Jets offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum had a wise attitude toward being a college football player: You’re getting your education paid for, so you might as well make the most of it.

Beachum said on NFL Network that he redshirted as a freshman at SMU and got his bachelor’s degree having just finished his junior football season, meaning he still had three semesters on campus before he would begin his NFL career. And he decided to make the most of those last three semesters by taking classes so hard that the dean initially felt it wouldn’t be possible to do the coursework with a football player’s schedule.

“I graduated in three and a half years. I got my undergrad in economics and sports management,” Beachum said. “Most guys when they go back to school take bowling, volleyball, just do something to have fun and blow off time, but I figured I could get some extra education, so I thought about getting a master’s. The dean at the time . . . didn’t really feel it was something an athlete could do at the time, so I got rejected at first. But I kept trying, found a way to get in to the master’s program and got it done in 16 months and got it done with a pretty high GPA. And he was the guy who introduced me at the commencement, so it was a great to see a guy who rejected me let me do the commencement speech.”

That story is a good one for young people, football players or not, to hear.