Ja’Marr Chase has had a long journey to reach the NFL and one of the biggest pitstops on the way was LSU. But the wide receiver never really wanted to attend school.
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In an interview with GQ, the Bengals WR talked about his time at LSU. He revealed that for him, college was only about football and he never really cared about anything else. He said:
“I didn’t really wanna go to school. I don’t think no athlete do. But you know what I’m saying, I went there and I used to say I’m only here for football sometimes, so that was my main goal to make it to the NFL.”
He added that the university “took great care of him” and showed appreciation for his former teammates, coaches, and other staff for their role in the team’s success. While at LSU, he won the award for ‘best wide receiver in college football’ for his 2019 performance.
In 2021, he made his league debut with the Bengals and his tuning with fellow LSU alumni Joe Burrow was an instrumental part of the team’s offense that year. The rookie wide receiver had 13 TDs for 1455 yards to make it to the Super Bowl LVI. He caught 5 passes in the game and broke the Bengals’ post-season rookie record.
He has made over millions since joining the Bengals but his path to the big leagues has not been easy. From having to go to school despite not wanting to, to doing a job he didn’t even get paid for, Chase had to jump a lot of hurdles to reach his $30.8 mil contract.
Chase reveals he never got paid for his first job
Before he made it to the league he had some humble beginnings in Louisiana and even did some part-time work outside of his football hours. Chase revealed that his childhood was mostly spent hopping between his grandmother’s home in Grambling and his parent’s home in Harvey, Louisiana.
During that time, he tried his hand at a part-time job at a snowball stand but wasn’t paid anything for it as it wasn’t a “real job.” His next job was at a concession stand and he spent his first salary on a pair of Allen Iverson shoes from Reebok.
Chase has definitely come a long way from living in suburban Louisiana, doing part-time work to playing for the Bengals.
