Academy to NFL done right

[bruno]

I remember Alejandro Villanueva as a huge Wide Receiver at Army (against VMI he was devastating - he was a foot taller than the Defensive backs- the Army offense in the 4th Qtr was a series of 9 foot high passes to Villanueva). After graduation he did what he was supposed to do as a USMA grad - he went on AD as an Infantry Officer first with the 10th Mtn Div and then with the Ranger Regiment deploying multiple times to Afghanistan. After completing his service he got picked up by the Steelers where he is now. To me this is how Academy Athletes are supposed to behave - serving their commitment first and then pursuing an athletic career if they wish, not pursuing an athletic career with little to no consideration for their obligation.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...rgh-steelers-usaa-/1jy9qqlyayvuh18oh1sn0qk6fo

 

[sheriff3]

100% agree!! Service before self!

 

[Day-Tripper]

"To me this is how Academy Athletes are supposed to behave - serving their commitment first and then pursuing an athletic career if they wish, not pursuing an athletic career with little to no consideration for their obligation."

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...rgh-steelers-usaa-/1jy9qqlyayvuh18oh1sn0qk6fo[/QUOTE]

Or not just Academy athletes but, perhaps, American citizenry at large?

Maybe I'm just spitballing here, but there was an era, say from 1941-1975, when American manhood was expected (and didn't expect otherwise) to spend at least 2 years of their post high school years on active duty in one of America's armed forces. From the ultra-rich to the ultra-poor, all aspects of US society shared this common experience.

John F Kennedy once wrote that he grew up so rich that he never knew a Great Depression ever happened until he was a lieutenant in the US Navy and listened to his young sailors talk to one another. It enlightened him more than any Harvard economics class ever could.

They say the Roman Empire began to die when it got so wealthy it outsourced the defense of it frontiers from citizen centurions to mercenaries (or "private military contractors", in modern lingo), whom eventually turned on their own employers for wine & loot.

Maybe, perhaps, today's hyper-partisan American society would become less so if we were forced to live with one another. A simple (and practical) starting point to that would be the barracks, where white guys and black guys and brown guys and yellow guys and red guys would serve as equals.

Or "maggots", as Staff Sgt Morris called me & my future pals on Parris Island in the summer of 1982.