| Honestly, no one here is making a big fuss about Kyle Eckel, the Navy running back who was comissioned as a SWO from here and then went on to play (he is still playing) for the New England Patriots. It's honestly good PR for Navy and Navy football. Most people back home thought that many athletes coming out of Navy went to the pros anyway because of David Robinson, Roger Staubach, and those other rare exceptions. The general public is not going crazy about this issue if I went up to someone on the street and told them about Eckel or now, in this case, the West Point defensive back. I know I have to do my five years and I'm fine with that...If there are talented athletes that could go pro, I say let them because it's good PR for the military, which is always ridiculed by public opinion.
Army and Navy traditionally have had great football programs, but now in the recruiting era where the best and brightest are using their intuition to go to the Stanfords, Texas', Arkansas' of the world instead of the Service Academies to play football, it shows that interest in the military academies and serving in general is down for the high level athletes that both academies were previously accostomed to having. |