NFL Draftee vows to finish his mechanical engineering degree

On April 29th, 2022, one of Nakobe Dean’s biggest childhood dreams came true when he was selected 83rd in the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, but playing football is not the only career he has always dreamed of.

Dean, a linebacker from the University of Georgia, grew up in Horn Lake, Mississippi, and always remembered the emphasis of education over sports in his house. He recalls his mother telling him, “Your mind will take you further than your feet”.

Both of his parents served in the military and his father later became a doctor. He spent much of his time at the VA and would often visit with the veteran amputees. This is when he knew he wanted to have a job where he could help these people.

Dean figured that he would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor, but upon arriving at school in 2019, he chose to major in mechanical engineering, with hopes of going into the field of prosthetics.

“Towards the end of my senior year in high school, I wasn’t leaning towards being a doctor as much as I was engineering, because that was numbers and math and putting things together, things like that,” Dean said.

With Dean also being a spectacular athlete, the opportunity to play in the NFL presented itself as well.

After winning a national championship and working hard in the classroom, Dean finished his junior year with a 3.5 grade point average, before declaring for the NFL draft.

Since then, he has vowed to complete his mechanical engineering degree, with roughly two semesters of work left.