TRUMBULL — Patrick Afriyie’s dream of playing in the National Football League became a realization this past season. Afriyie, who grew up learning the game of X’s and O’s in Newtown, competed on the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad this past season and signed a futures contract to stay with the Chargers for the 2019-20 season.

Eight to ten hours of his days are spent doing football-related activities — this time of year, working out to stay fit, build muscle, and gear up for the start of spring football with the Chargers in April.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding. I feel I’ve accomplished a lot — not enough yet,” said Afriyie, alluding to the ultimate goal of playing in NFL games.

Afriyie started playing in Newtown’s youth football program as a fifth-grader and moved up with the Nighthawks through eighth grade before attending high school at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor. From there, he went on to play at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. A defensive end, Afriyie went on to become Colgate’s second all-time sacks leader and seventh-best in the Patriot League, with 26.5 in his career.

He tried out with the Chargers in May of 2108, was one of 13 players invited to rookie camp, and one of just two signed to the team.

This winter, the 22-year-old spent about a week back home in Sandy Hook, where his parents — Evelyn and Kwabena — still reside and trained under the guidance of Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Kevin Cleary, who first started working with him during his high school days.

Afriyie worked out at InSports in Trumbull during his visit.

“He is in the hypertrophy phase of his offseason lifting, so he’s doing higher volume with most of his lifts,” Cleary said after Afriyie did a series of exercises and lifts, including hang clean, incline bench press, incline flys, dumbbell pullovers, close-grip bench, and medicine ball pushups.

Afriyie recalls his playing days in Newtown, where it all began.

“It taught me a lot. It was where I started playing. It was fun; I met a lot of great friends, and that’s where I started loving the game,” said the 6-foot-2, 245-pound athlete who added that he has also learned a lot from Cleary.

Afriyie said the biggest jump in his playing career came between his sophomore and junior campaigns at Loomis Chaffee, thanks in large part to Cleary, and that is a crucial time for high school athletes looking to continue their playing careers at the collegiate level.

“That’s when recruiting starts to pick up for football,” Afriyie notes.

After a successful career at Loomis Chaffee, Afriyie went on to become a three-time All-Patriot League First Team selection and won the Defensive Player of the Year award in the Patriot League in his junior year at Colgate. During that season, he also was named to four different All-America teams.

Injuries hurt Afriyie’s chances of doing even more in his senior year, but what he accomplished, especially in that junior season at Colgate, got him tryouts with the Seattle Seahawks and the Lost Angeles Chargers.

“There’s a ton of pressure on these guys. Mental focus and strength has to be high to play the game,” said Cleary, adding that he saw back in Afriyie’s high school playing days that the makeup for success was there.

Afriyie said he learned a lot from being around such high-level players in his first season with the Chargers.

During the workouts, Cleary commented that Afriyie’s career isn’t a bad one at all.

“You get to watch football every Sunday,” Cleary said.

“Up close,” added Afriyie, while lifting weights as part of his effort to be a part of the NFL game action in the near future.