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NFL Alum Scott Fujita Back Home In Job He Never Envisioned

California native Scott Fujita returned to his home state after his 11-year NFL career ended in 2012.

He and his wife Jaclyn settled their young family in Carmel Valley about 270 miles north of his childhood home in Oxnard.

“This a great place to raise a family,” Fujita recently told NOLA.com columnist Jeff Duncan. “It’s quiet and slower here, and my past life as an NFL player doesn’t dictate how people perceive me now.”

Fujita now is “perceived” by his Carmel Valley neighbors as the head of the All-Saints’ Day School in Monterey County. It is a position he was appointed to four years ago.

“Never thought in a million years I’d be in this spot,” says Fujita. “When they asked me if I were interested in throwing my hat in the ring, my answers were ‘No’ and ‘hell no’. I didn’t think I was close to being professionally or emotionally prepared for something like that. But the more the process went along, the more it started to make sense.”

Education is in Fujita’s DNA since his dad Rod taught in California high schools for 30 years. He also has the academic credentials for the position, including a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cal-Berkeley where he also earned a Master’s in Education.

However, the younger Fujita did not transition overnight from the NFL to the head of a prestigious co-ed, K through 8th grade school. He initially became involved when his oldest daughters—twins Delilah and Isabell—enrolled several years ago. He served on the school’s Board of Trustees and became Athletic Director in 2017-18. As he often did during his football days, he beat out many competitors—in this case, three dozen other outstanding candidates– for the job.

The 43-year-old Fujita does not sound like a tough football player these days.

“My favorite part of the day,” the Super Bowl XLIV champion says, “is every morning at the curb, welcoming the kids as they get dropped off, then going from there right into morning assembly. It feels like the whole community is rowing in the same direction.”

We at NFL Alumni congratulate Scott Fujita for giving back to his community in a special way. He joins many of his fellow alumni who are involved in education as administrators, classroom teachers or youth coaches. We salute all of you!