Former football star takes on new career

RIVERDALE, Ga. - Kregg Lumpkin has suited up as a Stephenson Jaguar, a Georgia Bulldog and on Sundays in the NFL, but nothing compares to the uniform he now wears as a Clayton County firefighter.

"I get fulfillment knowing that I've given myself and given myself up to save somebody else," says Lumpkin.

Lumpkin graduated from firefighter training in November and immediately hit the front lines. He says there are clear ties to football. The firehouse is like a team.

"You always want to make sure you protect yourself as well as protect your crew and your partner," says Lumpkin.

Also like football, just as much work goes on in the classroom as the field. When we met up with Lumpkin he had just finished a medical training class. There's also the physical aspect of firefighting where Lumpkin already had a leg up.

So how did a former football player with a Consumer Economics degree from UGA end up fighting fires? He says he pictured himself doing this as a child.

Lumpkin says that his station mates have embraced him and his football past, and his goals from here, they just make sense for a firefighter.

"Keep climbing the ladder," says Lumpkin.

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