Ed Kelce is a Cleveland, Ohio native who attended St. Joseph High School. Like his sons, he played football, and the ramifications of his short time on the field shaped his entire future. While playing, he suffered an injury to his left knee that required surgery to have the cartilage removed.

On his sons’ “New Heights” podcast, Kelce explained that prior generations of the men in his family had served in the military, which was a legacy he wanted to carry on after he graduated from high school. But when he tried to join the Marines, he was disappointed to learn that he was medically disqualified from enlisting due to his past knee injury. He also got turned away by a different branch of the U.S. military.

“I got a little pissed off actually at the recruiter’s office for the Army,” he recalled, saying he felt it was unfair because he was willing to serve his country while so many others were dodging the draft. “I had some grizzled old sergeant just chew me out about, ‘What am I going to tell the mother of the guy that dies trying to carry your big a** out of there ’cause you can’t walk?’”

The sergeant sent Kelce on to the Coast Guard, where he was allowed to enlist. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete basic training because he began experiencing symptoms of Crohn’s disease. He eventually wound up working at a steel foundry lab.