Rice DE Brian Nordstrom taking energy job, won't play in 2015

Brian Nordstrom is choosing to go professional in something other than sports.

The Rice defensive end was an all-Conference USA selection in 2014 as a redshirt junior with 18.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. However, after a summer internship at a oil and gas company and the opportunity of a job with a starting six-figure salary, he's not going to play football in 2015.

From the Houston Chronicle:

"When I got this opportunity, it was hard for me to turn down," Nordstrom said.

Nordstrom, who graduates with a civil engineering degree in May, declined to identify his new employer but said he will work as a project engineer. He had an internship at the company last summer through a Rice career fair.

"I really liked the place, really liked the people," Nordstrom, 21, said. "I thought it would be a great place to start my career."

He injured his knee as a senior in high school and eventually walked on to the football team in 2011. In 2012, he saw his first game action and his playing time increased in the latter half of 2013. But even after his breakout 2014, Nordstrom said he didn't harbor any dreams of making it to the NFL. So when he saw something he wanted to do outside of football, he pounced on it.

And he has the support of Rice coach David Baliff.

"You're disappointed, but you're really excited for him," Bailiff said. "I told him, 'That's why you came to Rice.' "

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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