( CNN ) As an offensive guard for the Baltimore Ravens , John Urschel already has a lot on his plate . He regularly goes head to head with the top defensive players in the NFL and does his best to keep quarterback Joe Flacco out of harm 's way . But besides his endeavors on the field , Urschel also keeps up another demanding pursuit that is rarely associated with NFL players : mathematical research . Not content with the respect of the locker room , he also seeks the esteem of top mathematicians around the globe . `` I have a Bachelor 's and Master 's in mathematics , all with a 4.0 , and numerous published papers in major mathematical journals , '' Urschel wrote in a recent article for The Players ' Tribune . His latest contribution to the mathematical realm was a paper for the Journal of Computational Mathematics with the impressively esoteric title , `` A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians . '' Urschel , 23 , makes no effort to hide his unusual combination of talents : his official Twitter handle is @ MathMeetsFball . As word of his double life spread on social media in recent days , users responded with fascination and admiration . `` You are my goddamn hero ( football fan and aspiring complex/functional analyst here ) , '' tweeted Roy Cardenas , who describes himself as a math Ph.D. student . But Urschel acknowledges that he has faced questions from NFL officials , journalists , fans and fellow mathematicians about why he runs the risk of potential brain injury from playing football when he has `` a bright career ahead of me in mathematics . '' After every season , he says in the Players ' Tribune article , his mother tries to discourage him from continuing to play football . The Penn State graduate says the reason he keeps going is n't for the money ( he drives a used Nissan Versa and lives on less than $ 25,000 a year ) or `` for some social status associated with being an elite athlete . '' It 's simpler than that . `` I play because I love the game . I love hitting people , '' he writes . `` There 's a rush you get when you go out on the field , lay everything on the line and physically dominate the player across from you . '' `` This is a feeling I 'm ( for lack of a better word ) addicted to , and I 'm hard-pressed to find anywhere else , '' he explains . He shared his thoughts after San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland announced last week that he was retiring from professional football at age 24 because he was worried about the long-term effects of head trauma . Urschel says he envies Borland but does n't feel able to quit . `` When I go too long without physical contact I 'm not a pleasant person to be around , '' he writes . `` This is why , every offseason , I train in kickboxing and wrestling in addition to my lifting , running and position-specific drill work . '' And as if two areas of overachievement were n't enough , there is one other thing at which Urschel excels . `` I 'm also an avid chess player , '' he says . `` And I have aspirations of eventually being a titled player one day . ''
The NFL player has published numerous papers in major math journals . He is a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara and was recently named to the National Academy of Sciences, where he serves as an advisor for the Committee on Mathematics Education.