When Rayuan Lane III arrived for work in Jacksonville, Florida, this summer, he discovered quickly that he had an unusual disconnect with a few of his teammates.

When they learned he spent his four-year football career at the Naval Academy, suddenly they would picture him as Rambo.

“It’s kind of mind-boggling for them — they don’t understand too much about the military,” Lane said on a recent phone call, laughing through the anecdote. “They think I’m in the Army. They think I’ve been living in barracks and shooting guns for the last four years.”

Playing for a service academy is undoubtedly a different college football experience than most, with morning formations, crisply pressed uniforms and rigorous academics.

But, like the rest of his new co-workers, Lane also spent the previous four years perfecting his craft on the field, becoming one of college football’s outstanding safeties and perhaps its finest special teams gunner.

The sum of that career — 43 consecutive starts for the Midshipmen with 244 tackles, eight forced fumbles and seven interceptions — led to the Jacksonville Jaguars spending a sixth-round draft pick on the Gilman School grad this spring (just the fourth Navy player to be drafted this century). He watched the draft broadcast at his parents’ house in Howard County, grappling with anxiety.

“Just staring at the TV for so long, wondering if it was going to happen,” he said. “Getting that phone call from Jacksonville, knowing there’s a program out there that believes in you — my whole family was ecstatic for me.”

Rayuan Lane III started 43 consecutive games during his career at Navy. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)

But Lane admitted the excitement was “kind of short-lived,” as he quickly shifted focus to making the roster, which he accomplished by the end of training camp by making a tackle in all three preseason games. A Florida summer would be oppressive to most guys suiting up in pads every day but not Lane: “I love the heat. I love the sun beaming down on me.”

On Sunday, Lane made an NFL debut that once seemed extremely unlikely when he was a zero-star recruit out of Gilman. He played gunner on the Jaguars’ punt unit, making an assist on a tackle.

“As a kid, you always see yourself in that role, always dream of being in the stadium and being part of a real NFL season,” Lane said. “It’s just kind of different being able to be out there on that field, running around and being out there with your teammates.”

One day, Lane will be bound back to the parade ground. After graduating from the Naval Academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve. But a recently enacted Department of Defense policy that allows graduates to defer service to pursue a pro sports career gave him a window to chase his dreams.

“Really figuring out that whole process went pretty smoothly,” Lane said. “I had a great support system at the Naval Academy to help me figure all those things. I had to look into it early, but eventually [the deferral] was kind of brought to me as a finished product.”

It’s a challenge for the Lane family, which tries to be there for both their sons on game days. Dejuan Lane is a sophomore defensive back at Penn State. Rayuan went to the Nittany Lions’ home opener against Nevada (Dejuan had a sack), and his parents made it to Jacksonville to see the 26-10 victory over the Panthers.

Lane is part of a Jacksonville secondary that is trying to bounce back from allowing the most passing yards (4,605) in the NFL last season. He was one of a haul of rookies selected to improve the defensive backfield, highlighted by Colorado two-way standout and Heisman winner Travis Hunter. “It’s kind of cool to see that caliber of athlete on our team, and he’s a great guy on the field and off the field,” Lane said.

Focusing on his own career, Lane said he felt Navy prepared him well for how he’s handling pro football now. From helping rouse a program comeback to a 10-3 season as a senior, Lane is familiar with how to juggle responsibilities (his degree is in qualitative economics) and keep from getting too high on just one victory.

It’s a great thing that he’s started 1-0 in the NFL, Lane said, but there’s a lot more he wants to do this season — and in a career that is only just beginning.

“No doubt it’s a great feeling to win, but obviously we don’t want to make that the big thing we take out of that game,” he said. “We did good things, but we flush it and we’re on to the next week. The main thing is the mindset and the mentality.

“That’s what I learned at Navy,” Lane added. “It always stays the same.”