Gleason: Black Knights chase NFL dream (Times Herald-Record)

Colleges & Universities A-Z Military Academy - West Point
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<p>Gleason: Black Knights chase NFL dream
Army hopefuls strut stuff for pro scouts</p>

<p>By Kevin Gleason
March 04, 2008</p>

<p>WEST POINT ‹ They want a shot. That's why fullback Mike Viti is inside the Foley Athletic Center, Army's indoor football field, doing whatever three NFL scouts want him to do.</p>

<p>And that's why Owen Tolson is just down the way at Michie Stadium waiting for the scouts to finish with Viti.</p>

<p>They want a shot. They are Army football players, so they know the underdog role well. But on this day, with scouts from the Jets, Colts and Eagles on hand, the Army kids are a couple steps closer to the NFL. </p>

<p>Army seniors</p>

<p>They almost definitely won't be chosen in the NFL draft next month. Viti is the longest of shots. Tolson is a punter, and only a couple punters a year get drafted.</p>

<p>So they are battling for a phone call the day after the draft. That's when teams offer free-agent contracts. And that's when players such as Viti and Tolson get an invitation to mini-camps, maybe training camp. A shot.</p>

<p>Viti is an even longer shot than his former teammate. Tolson was invited to the annual scoutfest known as the NFL combine. Viti was invited to work out in front of scouts on a winter day at West Point.</p>

<p>But that's just fine with Viti. He doesn't complain about much. Viti is a classic Academy kid who would push a blocking sled through Lusk Reservoir if it meant winning another game. He'd probably be participating in pro day at Penn State or West Virginia or Rutgers or Maryland if not for a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered during practice before the second game of his senior year in high school.</p>

<p>The big schools lost Viti's number after that, and he chose Army. He's had other leg problems, lots of leg problems, but mention them to Viti and he makes a good point.</p>

<p>"I've never missed a game for injury purposes," he said. "I think if they look at my toughness and that I'm able to overcome injuries, it's as important as staying healthy.''</p>

<p>Viti is put together better than a lot of NFL fullbacks. He's 243 pounds of thick muscle. By the time he arrives at Foley, Viti has aced a combine staple ‹ number of 225-pound reps. Viti bangs out 34 of them. To give the number perspective, only three college fullbacks have more reps in recorded combine results from 2000-08. And if scouts credit Viti with a 35th rep, a judgment call, then only one combine participant has had more reps: Moran Norris, a fourth rounder in 2001.</p>

<p>Viti's day only gets better on the field. The scouts, all of whom reserve comment afterward, seem genuinely impressed. They don't tell Viti his 40-yard dash time, but they like how he moves and reacts to drills. Viti might have put himself in a position to get that phone call.</p>

<p>As 6 p.m. approaches, the 50ish temperature from earlier has dropped to 30-something and the wind is kicking a bit. Not great punting conditions, but then, NFL games are played in just these elements. Tolson makes about 10 punts and 10 kickoffs outside at Michie, half with the wind, half against the wind, as the scouts set up in the end zones.</p>

<p>He's not especially pleased afterward, giving himself a C-plus. He gave himself a B-plus at the combine.</p>

<p>"I thought it could have gone better," Tolson said. "Really, it's all about consistency."</p>

<p>Tolson has done his homework. He thinks his best shot could come with Denver, Arizona or Houston. Maybe he'll take part in another pro day to improve his chances.</p>

<p>Tolson sighs. He knows one thing: He's taking three weeks off from kicking. He needs a break, mentally and physically. Plus he needs to make sure he's on track to graduate.</p>

<p>But on this day, a couple Army kids chase an NFL dream. Or, more specifically, they chase a shot at an NFL dream.</p>

<p><a href="mailto:kgleason@th-record.com">kgleason@th-record.com</a></p>

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<p>umm…what about their committment? How does that play into this?</p>

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<p>That was exactly what i was thinking!</p>

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<p>If they want to play at the professional level, why didn’t they go to Div I schools? It would have been better for their careers.</p>

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<p>Ummm…USMA is a div I school.</p>

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<p>“umm…what about their committment? How does that play into this?”</p>

<p>I believe that a special deal can be negotiated for cadets who are offered the “NFL dream”. I believe it involves a recruiting obligation, but I do not know the specifics.
This however, is a very rare occurrance and is far from the norm…</p>

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<p>dychang: This is an old article but an interesting one discussing athletes at the service academies.</p>

<p>Stars earning their stripes. Athletes at service academies wear two uniforms:
[USMA</a> In The News](<a href=“http://www.usma.edu/publicaffairs/directorscorner/tennesseanjul05.htm]USMA”>http://www.usma.edu/publicaffairs/directorscorner/tennesseanjul05.htm)</p>

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<p>mom3boys/ I knew that USMA was a Div. I school; what I meant my Div. I was those schools that have better football programs.</p>

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<p>ouch…you’re making it worse!!!</p>

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<p>Because this will undoubtably start, I have no problem with these guys spending time in NFL. It is a different society and the NFL is part of the fabric of AMerica it wasnt in the 40’s or 50’s and I think it is good to have some Army/WestPoint connection to that part of america</p>

<p>I do recall it was some special deal made</p>

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<p>---------End of Discussion---------
It’s somewhat out my business, so…
Playing football is fine, but what irks me is taking a spot at West Point to play football instead of filling that spot with a person who really wants to become an officer. Anyway, either way, life is a luck.
mom3boys/ I did not mean anything harm. I apologize if a comment upset you.</p>

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<p>I could care less, actually…but I didn’t want you digging yourself into a big hole dissing the Army football team on this USMA CC board! I will only get upset if you start dissing the swim/dive team! =)</p>

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<p>“Playing football is fine, but what irks me is taking a spot at West Point to play football instead of filling that spot with a person who really wants to become an officer.”</p>

<p>Dychang: You may be interested to know that less than 10% of people West of the Mississippi have ever heard of West Point. Of those 10%, most cite the Army Navy game as there sole source of reference. I imagine that an ex Army player in the NFL could do some amazing publicity work. Remember that this is dream for these players that will in all probability not be met.<br>
You are free to hold your own opinion about the value of the team and the motivation of the players who attend West Point. However, you may be in a better position to criticise them once you have spent a few years at West Point yourself.</p>

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<p>Yippee!! I am in the top 10% for maybe the first time in my life! (I grew up in the midwest and knew of WP w/o the knowledge of army/navy game -only such rivalry I knew of was Iowa/Iowa State because back then ISU had a good football team). Didn’t even personally know of anyone who attended USMA. </p>

<p>Actually, I wonder what percentage east of the Mississippi know about WP? My son has a friend who is there now that recently told him if he decided to accept the SA offer, don’t expect it to be a way of “getting chicks”. He dated one girl (in a state east of Mississippi River) who said, “Oh, West Point, where’s that???”. They didn’t date long. :D</p>

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<p>Don’t quote me but I believe NFL players are offered a deal where they act as a part-time recruiter and remain in the Army Reserve until they serve their years. They can train and play at the same time.</p>

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<p>Battlefield or football field?
NFL could earn Cadet a service exemption</p>

<p>Published: March 23, 2008</p>

<p>Caleb Campbell will graduate from West Point this spring, but if he’s lucky he¹ll be drafted, an unusual goal for a newly-minted alum.</p>

<p>Campbell, a strong safety for the Cadets, will be “excused from his five-year service commitment” if he lands on an NFL roster.</p>

<p>Sports Illustrated reports that his military responsibilities would be to "serve as a recruiter for the Army during and after the NFL season, speaking to young people and working at the local recruiting office wherever he plays. “If he doesn’t hook on with a pro team, he¹ll return to the Army for five years.” That’s a long-term contract of a different kind than the typical NFL deal.</p>

<p>Naval Academy graduates Roger Staubach and David Robinson, to name two, put their pro careers on hold to serve. For Staubach, that included a year in Vietnam.</p>

<p>Campbell’s opportunity comes from a policy implemented in 2005 “that releases cadets from their five-year active duty commitment if they have ‘unique talents and abilities.’” That conjures images of cadets pedaling unicycles while spinning plates on their noses. “Look, Sarge, no hands!”</p>

<p>The idea is to grant exemptions for graduates who “participate in activities with potential recruiting or public affairs benefit to the Army.”</p>

<p>Recruiting for the battlefield or the football field?</p>

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<p>I know Cadet Campbell… he was a platoon leader at the 2007 SLS. He seemed to be a great guy. I hope the best for him</p>

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<p>Duty calls: Army says Cadets can turn pro now; Staubach Says Navy Athletes Should Have Same Option (Dallas Morning News)</p>

<p>01:58 AM CDT on Sunday, March 30, 2008</p>

<p>By RICK GOSSELIN / The Dallas Morning News
<a href="mailto:rgosselin@dallasnews.com">rgosselin@dallasnews.com</a></p>

<p>Roger Staubach entered the U.S. Naval Academy in the 1960s with an eye on a military career.</p>

<p>Along the way, Staubach became one of college football’s greatest quarterbacks, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1963. But the NFL did not find him attractive * not with a five-year commitment to the Navy looming upon graduation.</p>

<p>So the Cowboys selected Staubach in the 10th round of the 1964 draft in the unlikely event that he would one day pursue a professional football career.</p>

<p>But a recently implemented rule at the U.S. Military Academy could change the way cadets are selected in April’s NFL draft. And two cadets from Texas, including punter Owen Tolson of Richardson’s Canyon Creek Christian Academy, could get drafted this year.</p>

<p>Service academy players, even the legends, rarely have NFL careers.</p>

<p>Felix “Doc” Blanchard (1945) and Pete Dawkins (1958) won Heisman trophies and never played in the NFL.</p>

<p>After fulfilling his military commitment, including a stint in Vietnam, Staubach reported to training camp in 1969 with the Cowboys as a 27-year-old rookie. He would quarterback Dallas to four Super Bowls in the 1970s and earn himself a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.</p>

<p>How much glossier would Staubach’s football legacy have been had he spent those five prime years of his professional life * ages 23 to 27 * on the football field instead of in the military? That was the tradeoff for one of the best educations a college scholarship could buy.</p>

<p>“When I went there, I knew what the deal was,” Staubach said. “When I left high school, I wasn’t thinking I was going to play pro football. But today if you’re thinking that way, it would be nice to have an option like Army has. If Army has it, Navy should be able to compete with it as well.” </p>

<p>Service option</p>

<p>Army is offering its top athletes a side door to professional sports. West Point has implemented an alternative service option program that allows cadets to turn pro * and play * right away.</p>

<p>Cadets accepted into the program “will owe two years of active service in the Army, during which time they will be allowed to play their sport in the player-development systems of their respective organizations and be assigned to recruiting stations. If they remain in professional sports following those two years, they will be provided the option of buying out the remaining three years of their active-duty commitment in exchange for six years of reserve time.”</p>

<p>The Air Force Academy and Naval Academy do not offer such a program. Both academies require two years of active service upon graduation before presenting the option of swapping the final three years of active time for six years in the reserves.</p>

<p>“It’s a complicated issue,” Staubach said. “But I think it’s good for the service academies if you have athletes that can compete at a higher level * and can still give back to the service * that they can find a compromise that allows them to play professional athletics. It’s worth the effort to look at it and try to figure it out.”</p>

<p>Six cadets have already applied for admission to Army’s program since its inception in 2005: four in baseball, one in hockey and one in football. Center Pete Bier went to training camp with the Green Bay Packers last summer but was released.</p>

<p>Three more football players hope to apply for the program in 2008: Tolson, safety Caleb Campbell and fullback Mike Viti. Campbell is from Perryton in the Panhandle’s northeast corner. Tolson is from Lucas in Collin County.</p>

<p>In February, Campbell and Tolson became the first players from any service academy invited to the NFL scouting combine since 2000 when the Air Force sent wide receiver Matt Farmer.</p>

<p>The other draft</p>

<p>The last cadet invited to the combine was tight end Ron Leshinski in 1997. That also was the last year Army had a player drafted into the NFL * quarterback Ronnie McAda in the seventh and final round.</p>

<p>But the Packers had to wait on McAda, a Mesquite product, back then.</p>

<p>Campbell spent much of his nightly interview time that weekend in Indianapolis at the NFL combine explaining his situation to potential employers.</p>

<p>“Some teams wanted to know if I’d be able to play for sure,” Campbell said. "They wanted to know if I’d have to go to Iraq if I got called up. ‘Do we invest all kinds of money in a player just to let him go?’</p>

<p>“Now all the teams have the understanding I can play football. My duty right now is to play football.”</p>

<p>Tolson, who became an All-TAPPS kicker at Canyon Creek before enrolling at West Point, considers this fork in his professional life a choice of two attractive options. For that, he is grateful to the Army.</p>

<p>“The academics at West Point can’t be touched,” said Tolson, whose father is a commander in the U.S. Navy. "I’ll be set up for success no matter what I do in the private sector. Playing in the NFL obviously would be living the little kid’s dream.</p>

<p>“But I’ll have a job right out of college, with or without the NFL, as an officer in the Army. I’ll have five years of on-the-job experience unless I get into the private sector and decide to get out of the Army right away.”</p>

<p>Tolson finished seventh in the NCAA in punting last season, averaging 44.9 yards per kick. His 7,220 career punting yards rank second in school history. Last season, he doubled as Army’s placekicker, booting eight of 15 field goals, including a game-winning 25-yarder against Tulane in overtime. As a senior in high school, Tolson nailed a 53-yard field goal.</p>

<p>Campbell was a four-year starter at strong safety, finishing his career with 307 career tackles and six interceptions. He was a team co-captain in 2007, when he finished second on the team with 97 tackles.</p>

<p>Viti, from Berwick, Pa., was a three-year starter and a co-captain in 2007. He caught 30 career passes and rushed 91 times for 321 yards and three touchdowns.</p>

<p>Army posted a 13-34 record in the four years Campbell, Tollson and Viti spent on campus. At least they helped point the program in the right direction. Army was 5-41 in the four years before their arrival. The Cadets have not managed a winning season since 1996.</p>

<p>Campbell thinks the alternative service option program can help bring Army football back.</p>

<p>“If we want to compete at this level and continue carrying on the Army football tradition that has been such a winning program in the past,” Campbell said, "I think this is a great opportunity to get all-star kids into the academy, because they’ll know they still have a chance to play football after they leave the academy.</p>

<p>"The amount of kids who actually leave the academy to play a professional sport is very small in relation to the number of kids who are going to go to protect our nation. So we’re actually benefiting the Army, just in another way."Draft watch</p>

<p>The U.S. Military Academy has had only one player drafted by the NFL since 1970 * quarterback Ronnie McAda in 1997. But the immediate availability of safety Caleb Campbell and punter Owen Tolson increases the chances of Army having another draft pick in 2008.</p>

<p>Tolson is the long shot. In the last 10 years, there have been an average of two punters drafted each year. But Tolson was one of five punters invited to the NFL scouting combine. If drafted, Tolson figures to go late, in the sixth or seventh round.</p>

<p>Campbell also projects as a second-day draft pick, but a thin safety board could push him up into the fifth or sixth round. The NFL likes his size (6-2, 229 pounds), and he has adequate speed (4.61 in the 40).</p>

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<p>If the Navy and AF dont adopt a similar scheme wont that give Army a huge recruiting advantage. I mean a guy with maybe like a 5% shot of making it as a pro and thinking of the military as an option is going to see Army as a huge deal as oposed to Navy or AFA, they know if thier 5% comes good they can persue a pro career and if it doesnt they can persue a military career and get a few years of Div I under their belt either way. </p>

<p>Seems to me almost any strong scholar athlete leaning towards a military academy will pick Army unless they are really passionate about another service because no matter how unlikely their shot at a pro career at least they know there is a shot.</p>

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<p>By Thomas Hauser</p>

<p>Caleb Campbell (United States Military Academy, Class of 2008) is 23 years old and was captain of the 2007 Army football team. Less admirably, he is a prime example of the hypocrisy that attends the war currently being waged at the behest of his commander-in-chief.</p>

<p>Virtually all of Campbell¹s classmates will be serving in Iraq or Afghanistan by the end of this year. That¹s in keeping with the requirement that West Point cadets commit to five years of active military duty in
return for their education.</p>

<p>Students at the Naval and Air Force academies incur a similar obligation. Roger Staubach spent four years in the Navy (including a tour of duty in Vietnam) before beginning his Hall of Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys. David Robinson also served on active naval duty before achieving superstar status with the San Antonio Spurs. Air Force Academy graduate Chad Hennings was on active duty in his branch of the service before playing in the National Football League.</p>

<p>This obligation, shared by young men and women at the service academies, is a bond that transcends the normal ties between student-athletes. Cadets do more than play on the same team; they have a common future. Seniors in the Army-Navy football game know that they¹re competing with and against each other for the last time before serving in common cause.</p>

<p>However, in March 2005, the United States Military Academy adopted an ³alternative service option² for athletes. This program releases cadets who have ³unique talents and abilities² (i.e. are good enough to play in a major professional sports league) from their commitment to serve five years of active duty in the Army. In return, the cadet must, for two years, ³participate in activities with potential recruiting or public affairs benefit to the Army² at the same time he¹s pursuing his pro sports career. He may then erase the remaining three years of his active-duty commitment by serving in the Army Reserve.</p>

<p>In other words, if Caleb Campbell makes a National Football League roster, rather than risk his life in Iraq or Afghanistan, he can speak to young people and seek to recruit them to serve in his stead.</p>

<p>The purpose of the ³Alternative Service Option² was to resurrect the football program at West Point. In the five years prior to its adoption, Army¹s gridiron record was a pitiful 5 wins and 53 losses. Coaches at West
Point can now recruit elite high school athletes with the sales pitch, ³Come to West Point. If you¹re good enough to play in the NFL, you can avoid military combat.²</p>

<p>That¹s a far cry from World War II and the Korean War, when the United States asked great athletes like Ted Williams to serve in the armed forces alongside everyone else.</p>

<p>The most disturbing aspect of all this is the light it sheds on our priorities as a nation. The United States Military Academy is, in effect, saying that it considers entertaining sports fans to be more important than the war in Iraq. How else can one construe giving a young man the choice of (a) living up to his commitment to serve his country or (b) playing in the National Football League?</p>

<p>The situation calls to mind another young man of exceptional promise. Pat Tillman graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University in 1998 and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He became the team¹s starting safety and, in his third year as a pro, broke the franchise record for tackles in a single season.</p>

<p>One day after 9/11, Tillman told an interviewer, "At times like this, you stop and think about just how good we have it, what kind of system we live in and the freedoms we¹re allowed. A lot of my family has gone and fought in wars, and I really haven¹t done a damn thing.²</p>

<p>Then Tillman did something extraordinary. He turned down a $3,600,000 contract extension from the Cardinals, put his football career on hold, and enlisted for a three-year term in the U.S. Army. He served in Iraq and then in Afghanistan. On April 22, 2004, he was killed in action.</p>

<p>Pat Tillman¹s memory is dishonored by West Point¹s alternative service option. Perhaps the USMA should change its motto from “Duty, Honor, Country,” to “Evade, Avoid, NFL.”</p>

<p>As for Caleb Campbell; if he accepts the forbidden fruit that the Army is offering, one can imagine the recruiting pitch that he¹ll make to young men and women: “I wasn¹t willing to risk my life in Iraq and Afghanistan, but you should.”</p>

<p>Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at <a href="mailto:thauser@rcn.com">thauser@rcn.com</a></p>