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St. Louis Rams rookie defensive end Ethan Westbrooks made the 53-man roster after going undrafted out of West Texas A&M in this year’s NFL Draft. As you’d imagine, that’s a life-changing moment for any young kid…but maybe even more so for Westbrooks, who decided to get a tattoo on his face three years ago as motivation to make it in the NFL.

This Westbrook quote regarding the tattoo is pretty incredible:

“I was just like I might as well go ahead and get it on the face because if nothing else, it will help motivate me to either be a guy that has a tattoo on his face looking for another job or hopefully I make it in the NFL and don’t have to work too hard to do something (else),” Westbrooks said. “I don’t feel it’s a bad thing now. I don’t regret it. It speaks for itself.” (via ESPN)

Getting a face tattoo in order to hinder your chances at getting a job outside of football is a ballsy move, especially when you work at Toys ‘R’ Us and play football for a community college in California like Westbrooks was three years ago when he made the decision to get inked.

But it’s hard to argue with results, and the tattoo – which reads “Laugh Now, Cry Later” alongside happy and sad drama masks – clearly played a part in motivating him over the past few years, so good for him. Let’s just hope he manages to keep that motivation and make a successful career out of football instead of having to get weird looks as he goes on job interview after job interview.

NFL: St. Louis Rams-Rookie Minicamp

[FTW]