Maurice Alexander’s Cinderella story has come true. From working as a janitor cleaning up stadiums after Rams games, to now having the honor of calling himself an NFL player for the St. Louis Rams; Maurice Alexander’s story is quite inspirational.
The Utah State safety found his college career on hold and staring at the field from the wrong side of the stadium. Alexander was kicked off the school team for a season and sentenced to a year in jail after punching a teammate, Joey DiMartino, in the face. He plead guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault resulting in bodily harm and had 45 days of his sentence lifted.
DiMartino would ultimately need surgery to repair broken bones in his face, and oddly didn’t report the incident to police until a month after the fight. Alexander says he and DiMartino remain “great friends”, via USA Today:
“It was a mistake,” Alexander said. “It made me a better man today. Utah State believed in me, they brought me back. I’m a great guy, I’m a great friend, I’m a great person to be around and I’m good in the locker room.”
It was that year off which helped Alexander turn his life around. The Rams brought him in for workouts a few weeks ago, Rams coach Jeff Fischer is very optimistic about what he can bring to their secondary.
Alexander was reinstated by the school last year and in 13 starts recorded 80 tackles, six pass breakups and an interception. The versatile safety began his college career as a linebacker, and it’s that ferocity which the Rams hope to instill in their depleted secondary.
Amazing tale of hope, which is the heart of the NFL Draft–seeing young people’s lives change right before your eyes.