86 members of ASU’s football team take part in Phoenix Fire Department training

ASU football players traded in their helmets for firefighters’ helmets Saturday.

Eighty-six Sun Devils football players spent their morning at the Phoenix Fire Department Training Academy, getting a firsthand experience of what it’s like to be a firefighter.

The team watched firefighters extinguish a car fire and took part in vehicle extractions, rappelling and other hands-on training.

This was the first year Phoenix fire reached out to the football team as part of a recruitment effort.

Phoenix fire Capt. Larry Subervi said a career in firefighting would be a logical move for the football players as they leave college. About 200 members of the department were college athletes.

“Athletes are used to training extremely hard,” Subervi said. “They’re used to working in less than admirable conditions. They work on holidays. Ninety-nine percent of what they do is to play a game 1 percent of the time. That’s exactly what we do.”

He added the passion and the family-like atmosphere found in most fire stations is similar to the feel of a football team.

Both offensive lineman Cohl Cabral and running back Eno Benjamin said they expected the fire training to be physical, but were surprised by how challenging it was to cut a hole through the roof of a smoky building and control the fire hoses.

“It’s about being able to go to battle with your brothers,” Benjamin said.

Cabral said he’s previously considered a career in emergency response since he has multiple family members in the field.

Subervi said they hope to expand their recruiting efforts to other sports teams at ASU in addition to Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona. Typically, the department hires about 75 new recruits each year.

“We’re saving people’s lives,” he said. “To do that, we want people like these who have college degrees and know how to work hard.”