Maurice Alexander went from cleaning the Rams’ stadium to part of the team’s roster

In a 27-3 loss against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 of the 2015 season, safety Maurice Alexander recorded a sack on Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer for a 9-yard loss at the Edward Jones Dome.

Just a few years earlier this was, at best, a long shot and, at worst, impossible. Why? Years prior, fresh out of jail, Alexander spent his time at Edward Jones on the janitorial staff. He would have been holding a mop.

Alexander took an unconventional route to superstardom and the elite and privileged world of the NFL.

Throughout his journey, he encountered many roadblocks, bumps, and detours. As his window of opportunity to make it to his destination began to fade, he found a different route and finally arrived.

In the summer of 2008, Alexander enrolled in Arizona Western College to play linebacker. Playing defensive end in high school, defensive coordinator Jerry Dominguez raved about his instincts as a linebacker.

“You know, it’s obviously one of the things I know most coaches wish they could take credit for, but you just can’t. Either you have them or you don’t,” Dominguez said.

Not only did Alexander have good instincts, he played an important role in Arizona Western’s 4-2-5 defensive alignment. He was a “hybrid nickel,” meaning he was “part linebacker, part defensive back.”

“He had great, great explosion. Very fast [and] very instinctive. He was able to make a lot of plays,” said Dominguez.

On the other hand, Dominguez was impressed with Alexander’s personality off the gridiron. He wasn’t an animated individual. Dominguez described him as reserved, always with a grin on his face.

“You could tell he loved the game of football,” said Dominguez. “There’s guys that enjoy it, but he really loved the game of football. And he always had a great attitude. He always came with great enthusiasm to take advantage of every opportunity he had here.”

When Alexander enrolled at Arizona Western, his mother, Lynette McAlpine, wanted to make sure he graduated. He did just that, graduating in the summer of 2010.

He is one step closer to reaching his destination. However, a detour through Utah State awaits for him. Alexander transferred to Utah State and played linebacker in 2011.

McAlpine and her husband, Hassan Haskins, were excited when Alexander transferred to Utah State. She said he already had his mind made up on which college he wanted to transfer to.

“[Alexander] played the game like it was supposed to be played, and that’s fast and physical,” said Kendrick Shaver, the cornerbacks coach from 2011-2013 at Utah State. “You saw it on tape. You saw that he had a lot of passion for the game. You saw it through his physicality. He was twitchy on film.”

Shaver echoed the sentiments of the folks at Arizona Western when it came to his personality.

“Guys wanted to be around him, and you could tell that because people was always around him and flocked to him,” said Shaver. “He just had that personality like, ‘man, everything is going to be OK.’”

According to sports-reference.com, Alexander recorded 45 tackles and three sacks in 2011. He was on his way to becoming a stellar linebacker for the Aggies.

Then he came across a detour that could have thrown him off his path for good.

He got into a fight.

In early 2012, Alexander got into a physical altercation at a party with running back Joseph DeMartino.

According to the Deseret News, both players were pushed into each other at the party.

“Maurice began to exchange words with Joey which seemed to be aggressive but the two were separated and no further contact occurred in the apartment,” the charges state.

The host of the party escorted everyone outside and ended the party. According to the charges, while DeMartino was talking to a friend in the parking lot, “Maurice ran up to Joseph and punched him on the left side of his face.”

DeMartino suffered a fractured cheekbone, broken bones in his left eye socket, and was briefly unconscious.

Following the incident, Alexander called McAlpine to let her know what happened.

“When he called me, he told me he got into a fight. Of course, I got on him because he was not a kid who got in trouble,” she said. “As a mom, I just really got on his case. I’ve never had that problem with him during grade school, middle school, and high school.”

She did not, however, think her son was headed to jail.

Alexander ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault resulting in body injury. He was dismissed from Utah State and spent 45 days in jail.

McAlpine cried for months: “I was at the courthouse when they locked him up. I was pouring tears. I literally threw up. I couldn’t believe it.”

Once Alexander got out of jail, he took a janitorial job at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Mo. McAlpine said he took the job to ensure that he was saving up enough money to pay for tuition if he got reinstated. One of her nephews got Alexander the job.

“Every time that I went to work, I always stood at the end of that field, and I just looked at it,” Alexander said in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I just looked at it like this could be my dream spot. And look where I’m at now.”

After missing the entire 2012 season, Utah State reinstated Alexander prior to to the 2013 season. Dominguez played a key role in his reinstatement. Alexander asked him to write a recommendation letter for him, and Dominguez said “absolutely.”

“I made sure that I wrote about his character, the type of person he is, and obviously the advantage a higher education would give him,” Dominguez said.

Alexander also said that he did everything that Utah State asked him to do.

“I did what it took to get back into the university,” he said. “I took classes, I worked. It was a struggle, but it was worth it. It was all worth it, coming back. I appreciate the coaches, the fans, everyone — for just believing in me, letting me come back.”

During his time away, Alexander lost weight, so he moved to the safety position.

According to Shaver, that’s not an easy position: “It’s tough because now you go from a guy only seeing a part of the formation or the field. Now at safety, you see everything. Your eyes have to be disciplined.”

Alexander excelled. In 2013, he racked up 79 tackles, 3.5 sacks, six pass deflections, and an interception at safety.

Next stop, the NFL.

McAlpine had her doubts about Alexander playing in the NFL when he got reinstated. By the time the 2014 draft rolled around, he was projected to get drafted in the seventh round, which meant there was a likelihood the draft would conclude without Alexander having an NFL home. But, just in case, McAlpine threw a draft party for him.

When she went to go procure supplies for the party, she heard a television say Alexander was drafted with the 110th pick in the 2014 NFL draft. He was selected in the fourth round, a three-round jump from his original projections. Even better — he was staying home to play for the then-St. Louis Rams, trading what had been a janitor’s suit for an NFL uniform.

He had arrived.

“I [drove] home so fast,” she recalled. “When I got home, Maurice was on the phone with the Rams. He was saying, ‘Mama, Mama, I told you, Mama!’ I didn’t think the Rams would get him, but they actually drafted him and in the fourth round.”

Alexander said he learned a hard lesson from the incident at Utah State. He even revealed that things had changed between him and the man on the other side of the biggest roadblock of his journey.

“It made me a man at the end of the day,” he said. “Me and my teammate (DeMartino), we’re great friends, [now]. It was a mistake. It made me a better man today.”