Miami Dolphins star Raheem Mostert is opening up on his decision to chase touchdowns over big waves ... telling TMZ Sports he left his pro surfing dreams behind to pursue a college education!!
For those who don't know, the NFL's rushing-scoring leader last season was a beast on the board back in the day ... in fact, he even had a sponsorship offer from Billabong when he was in his mid-teens.
We caught up with Mostert at LAX this week about his first love ... and he said while he misses the sport, he knows he made the right decision by putting his focus on football.
"I just wanted to be the first to graduate in my family," Mostert told us. "That's why I went to Purdue, to get a degree."
Mostert -- who grew up in New Smyrna Beach, Florida -- said he was able to get out in the water a bit when he was in Hawaii for teammate Tua Tagovailoa's charity event recently ... but as far as going pro after retiring from football, the 32-year-old said he's got other things in the works.
"I gotta hang that up. I got other endeavors I want to go into. Surfing's always going to be my background, man."