Jeremiah Pharms Jr. played for 3 different colleges: • Sacramento State College (JUCO) • San Joaquin Delta College (JUCO) • Friends University (NAIA) But NFL scouts doubted whether he could play in the NFL. The 2020 NFL Draft came and went. His phone never rang. So for a year and a half, Pharms worked out daily with his mentor and former coach James Tabor while juggling multiple jobs. To make ends meet, he did everything from working as a janitor at a laundromat, a cleanup construction job, pushing carts at Walmart, substitute teaching at a local Wichita school, and serving as a security guard at a bar. “He’d work overnight at Walmart, get off at 4 o’clock, meet me at the gym by 5 (a.m.),” Tabor said. “And then he’d go substitute teach afterwards. After substitute teaching, we may go to the field and run or work on position drills. So he wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. There were a lot of days when I would have understood if he had to take a break. But that just wasn’t in him.” Pharms only had one offer to keep playing football. It was with the Wichita Force, a $150-per-game indoor semi-pro team. "Work is gonna be there forever," he said. "But you only got now to chase this dream. You're not gonna be young forever, so chase it while you can." After Wichita's season ended, Pharms and Tabor took multiple trips to regional combines in Texas so scouts could see him live. Another opportunity finally presented itself. It was from the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL. Pharms was drafted and played with the Maulers in 2022 during their sole season of existence in the rebooted league. The team was abysmal, finishing 1-9, but Pharms was a breakout star on the defensive line. He notched 32 tackles and two sacks, enough to catch the eye of one of the best coaches in NFL history. Bill Belichick signed Pharms in 2022 and after moving up and down from the practice squad, he finally cracked the Patriots' 53-man roster in 2024. “I’m getting closer to where I wanna be," Pharms said. "So me getting here isn’t the goal. Me being a name in this league is a goal. Me being a great player when I’m done is a goal. I've got a lot to work on.”