Army QB, Trent Steelman, signs with Baltimore Ravens
- Thread starter buff81
- Start date
1. At tailgates for NFL across the world one can hear a similar comment.
2. Team Ravens has met him for what, a week. In meeting and practice mode. No games yet.
2. Team Ravens has met him for what, a week. In meeting and practice mode. No games yet.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2009
- Messages
- 289
As someone mentioned earlier, he's had some run-ins with the honor system that other cadets would have and do consistently get kicked out for.
Personally, I don't blame him, the honor system is terribly broken. It's nice to talk the talk of all the values we talk around West Point, but so few people actually adhere to it that it's more of a nice shiny thing for the public to look at than the truth.
An officer I was talking to the other day put it perfectly, "How on Earth can we expect that Cadets behave a certain way and with certain values when as soon as we're done telling them to do it they can look at one of us and get a great example of what not to do?"
Ex-Army QB Steelman Mulls Olympic Bobsled Run
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 06/11/13
Trent Steelman used discipline, quickness and strength to become a record-setting Army triple-option quarterback.
Those same qualities could take Steelman, who broke Army's all-time rushing touchdown record in 2012, to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February.
Steelman opened the door to a potential place on the U.S. bobsled team with a solid showing Saturday at an Atlanta combine.
Bob Steelman said his son has been invited to try out for the bobsled team trials later this year.
"We talked to the coaches down there and both of them were on the team several years ago, one was a driver and the other a pusher," Bob Steelman said. "What they described seemed it was right up Trent's alley."
While one opportunity opened for Steelman, another still remains in question.
Steelman, 23, is waiting for the Army to decide his football fate. He was offered a free-agent contract by the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens immediately after the NFL draft in April. He attended the Ravens' rookie mini-camp, but, Bob Steelman said, the contract, "has been tied up in review" by the Army for several weeks.
"It's made its way up the chain and we haven't been made aware of any decision, one way or another," Bob Steelman said. "All he wanted to do was go to OTAs (offseason training activities) and practice with them some in his off time. They were going to let him come in and go through drills with them. I think there was some concern about him getting hurt on the Army side."
In Atlanta, Steelman, who is 6-foot and 200 pounds, was tested for speed, explosion and power. An underhanded, 18-pound shot-put throw and standing broad jump were also part of the combine.
"He did 460 or 470 pounds on the squat, three times and the guy told him not to go any higher because he maxed out as high as he could score on that," Bob Steelman said. "From an athlete's perspective, it keeps him in shape."
If Steelman makes the bobsled team, he could apply for the Army's World Class Athlete Program, which allows soldiers the support and training to compete in national and international competitions.
Steelman is the second former Army football player to pursue the national bobsledding team. Caleb Campbell, a former safety and 2008 graduate, unsuccessfully attempted in 2009.
Steelman will graduate West Point in August. Injuries and surgeries prevented Steelman from fulfilling his summer military requirements in the past. Steelman will spend three to four weeks as a commanding officer at Camp Buckner starting in July.
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 06/11/13
Trent Steelman used discipline, quickness and strength to become a record-setting Army triple-option quarterback.
Those same qualities could take Steelman, who broke Army's all-time rushing touchdown record in 2012, to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in February.
Steelman opened the door to a potential place on the U.S. bobsled team with a solid showing Saturday at an Atlanta combine.
Bob Steelman said his son has been invited to try out for the bobsled team trials later this year.
"We talked to the coaches down there and both of them were on the team several years ago, one was a driver and the other a pusher," Bob Steelman said. "What they described seemed it was right up Trent's alley."
While one opportunity opened for Steelman, another still remains in question.
Steelman, 23, is waiting for the Army to decide his football fate. He was offered a free-agent contract by the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens immediately after the NFL draft in April. He attended the Ravens' rookie mini-camp, but, Bob Steelman said, the contract, "has been tied up in review" by the Army for several weeks.
"It's made its way up the chain and we haven't been made aware of any decision, one way or another," Bob Steelman said. "All he wanted to do was go to OTAs (offseason training activities) and practice with them some in his off time. They were going to let him come in and go through drills with them. I think there was some concern about him getting hurt on the Army side."
In Atlanta, Steelman, who is 6-foot and 200 pounds, was tested for speed, explosion and power. An underhanded, 18-pound shot-put throw and standing broad jump were also part of the combine.
"He did 460 or 470 pounds on the squat, three times and the guy told him not to go any higher because he maxed out as high as he could score on that," Bob Steelman said. "From an athlete's perspective, it keeps him in shape."
If Steelman makes the bobsled team, he could apply for the Army's World Class Athlete Program, which allows soldiers the support and training to compete in national and international competitions.
Steelman is the second former Army football player to pursue the national bobsledding team. Caleb Campbell, a former safety and 2008 graduate, unsuccessfully attempted in 2009.
Steelman will graduate West Point in August. Injuries and surgeries prevented Steelman from fulfilling his summer military requirements in the past. Steelman will spend three to four weeks as a commanding officer at Camp Buckner starting in July.
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3,059
My son will find this article pretty cool- He also is heading to SFAS this Friday - and is a huge lifelong 49er fan. good luck to both of themFrom special teams to Special Forces.Glen Coffee > Trent Steelman
That’s the projected path for Glen Coffee, a former NFL running back who retired from the San Francisco 49ers after the 2009 season and is reportedly set to graduate Friday from the U.S. Army’s Airborne School at Fort Benning in Georgia. The former Alabama standout then hopes to shift to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, moving one step closer to potentially joining the U.S. Army Special Forces, AL.com reports.
“I know my motivation and I know my focus,” Coffee told the website on Thursday. “I just felt like being in an elite unit would pretty much weed out anybody who didn’t have the drive and focus that I believe I have. I feel like if I make it in, that guy to my left and my right is somebody I could depend on with my life and vice versa.”
After being drafted in the third round in 2009, Coffee, now 26, had a promising rookie season backing up Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore, tallying 226 yards and one touchdown. But his heart was never fully in the game, and the downtime following a knee injury in 2006 season while at Alabama drove him batty. He later told his mother – who briefly served in the military before Coffee was born – that he was going to enlist.
“I kind of had the feeling back then that there would really be no civilian job that would give me the satisfaction,” he told the website. “I actually told them then that I was going to join the military. I didn’t want to play football anymore.”
But Coffee eventually thrived with the Crimson Tide, amassing 545 yards and four touchdowns in his sophomore season. As a junior the following year, Coffee powered an Alabama offense to an undefeated regular season while totaling 1,383 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 14 games. He then left Alabama with one year of eligibility remaining.
Coffee would later admit that he regretted leaving college early and said he should have never entered the NFL.
"A lot of people aren't going to understand and realize because they don't have the wisdom to understand," Coffee said in 2010. "Their eyes aren't open like mine are open. True happiness is glorifying God and glorifying Christ. That's what true happiness is ... And for me, that wasn't the NFL. That wasn't where I needed to be."
After retiring from the NFL, Coffee moved back to his native Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and continued speaking at religious events. He also watched many war-themed movies, including “Tears of the Sun,” a 2003 flick starring Bruce Willis playing the role of a Navy SEAL. The movie, Coffee said, hit home.
“I've always considered myself a warrior, somebody who would fight for what he believed in,” he told AL.com. “It hit me like, ‘What do you think the military does and what do you think the military is full of? Warriors. All of a sudden, I had this respect for the military and I just realized that there is no America without the men and women who serve this country.
“I figured that if I'm able, the Lord's blessed me with an able body while I'm young, to get out there and get dirty.”
For now, Coffee said he has no regrets about walking away from professional football and is singularly focused on his next jump out of a plane as part of his Army training.
“I expect it to be the hardest thing I've done in my life physically and mentally,” Coffee told the website. “But I'm looking forward to the challenge.”
1 Week Ago 09:04 PM
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2007
- Messages
- 9,295
Hahaha, it took watching Tears of the Sun for him to realize that the military hard warriors? Yikes! The military might want to re-evaluate how much those recruiting $$ are doing. I guess the "Navy: A Global Force For Good" commercial can be confusing.
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2007
- Messages
- 9,295
Wow.... now that is a statement that should turn some heads.
That's where I moved off the fence and onto the position of those who think this is absurd, and disrespectful, and indeed a gaming of the system as Scoutpilot wrote. This makes it seem like 2LT Steelman is skipping merrily though post-Academy life looking to have as much fun as possible playing sports. I almost get the NFL PR thing, but Bobsled???????? If there were a National Beer Pong team, would that be the next destination for this officer? Who knows, it might seem "right up Trent's alley" This makes it appear Trent Steelman, AND his Dad, see his Oath as a "if it turns out to be convenient" card that will only be played if a more up his alley card fails to pan out.buff81 said:
man I hope his Dad reads this Board.
At what point did serving his country and fulfilling his oath cease to be up his alley?
Last edited:
He is still Cadet Steelman. He didn't graduate with the rest of the class a few weeks ago-