<p>[Troubled</a> waters - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/11/18/troubled_waters/]Troubled”>http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/11/18/troubled_waters/)</p>
<p>Troubled waters: The Navy experience of Patriots running back Eckel wasn’t exactly smooth sailing
By Bob Hohler
Boston Globe Staff / November 18, 2007 </p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Even as he rose to football stardom at the US Naval Academy amid the war on terrorism, there were signs that Kyle Eckel might be better suited to play professional sports than honor his commitment to serve as a commissioned officer.</p>
<p>Eckel, a Patriots fullback and favorite of Bill Belichick’s late father, Steve, a longtime assistant coach at Navy, was recommended at least twice for dismissal from the academy before he graduated last in the class of 2005, a former student leader said.</p>
<p>The recommendations to dismiss Eckel, submitted by a school conduct board, were rejected by administrators, according to First Lieutenant Eric Scherrer, a Marine pilot who served on the board as a subcommander of the brigade of midshipmen.</p>
<p>Seventeen months after Eckel graduated, however, he was expelled from the Navy and ordered to repay the government more than $96,000 for the partial cost of his education.</p>
<p>“Kyle was a great guy and a good football player, but the academy is a place to train officers and he did not uphold the standards,” Scherrer said. “You just can’t break all the rules. With Kyle, it really was a character issue.”</p>
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