(AJC<\/a>) \u2013 When Kregg Lumpkin suits up these days, he wears a gold (yes, gold) jacket, a helmet that only has some red (no iconic G) and no facemask.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the former Georgia Bulldogs running back, now 32 years old, brings the same zeal to his firefighter duties in Clayton County that he brought to Sanford Stadium and the NFL.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cFirefighter Lumpkin,\u201d as one of his superiors calls him, began his duties in November and looks forward to the experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0\u201cI love it,\u201d he said recently at the fire department headquarters in Riverdale.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to work for a great county.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lumpkin pursued firefighting after mulling potential career choices. (After he finished his Georgia career in 2005, he played for four NFL teams.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOnce your career ends, you can\u2019t sit on the money you saved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Lumpkin answered an ad to be a firefighter. Now he\u2019s going through the routine of a new recruit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The former Stephenson High star sounds like he\u2019s talking about football when he describes firefighting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t totally out of shape\u201d after being away from football, Lumpkin said.\u00a0\u201cCrossFit helped me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there are many techniques to learn. When Georgia was taking on TCU in the recent Liberty Bowl, Lumpkin was learning\u00a0\u201crope techniques\u201d from his superiors at Station 13.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s on-the-job learning, too. On his first day, Lumpkin was among those who answered four brush fires.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen I got off the truck, I didn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThe sergeant and the lieutenant made sure I knew what tools to get.\u201d<\/p>\n