Nick Florence followed in the footsteps of Robert Griffin III as the starting quarterback at Baylor, but he won’t be following Griffin to the NFL.
Florence, who has already graduated from Baylor and is now working on a master’s degree, told the Waco Tribune-Herald that after thinking about his options, he decided to put all his energy into finishing school and beginning a career.
“I’ve decided to hang up my cleats and finish my master’s in December,” Florence said. “My wife and I have spent the last one and a half months talking about it, and it all came down to what we wanted in life, and it didn’t include playing football.”
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Florence wasn’t considered a great pro prospect, but if he had a burning desire to play pro football he’d have a shot of catching on somewhere. Last season he passed for 4,309 yards and 33 touchdowns and ran for 568 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he says he believes he’s good enough to make an NFL roster. But he also says that while he loves football, that’s a part of his life he’s willing to put behind him.
“Oh yeah, I’m going to miss it,” Florence said. “I’ve been doing it my whole life. I don’t know whether I would have been drafted, but I have no doubt that I could have made a team. But I’ll look back and have a lot of great memories.”
Whatever Florence does in the future, we wish him well.