Army QB, Trent Steelman, signs with Baltimore Ravens

I am not opposed to an athlete going Pro from an SA. David Robinson was a good example of how it could be pretty positive. I think that person would be great in a recruiting capacity (not recruiting for SA, but general military enlisted recruiting).

I do think if they let you out of your military commitment, they should make you pay the taxpayers back for the school bill. Heck $200k (or whatever it is) shouldn't be too hard to pay back for someone in the NFL/NBA.

It would be far and few between to have athletes at SAs that are of the caliber to go pro though, so these would be very isolated circumstances.
 
billyb said:
I do think if they let you out of your military commitment, they should make you pay the taxpayers back for the school bill. Heck $200k (or whatever it is) shouldn't be too hard to pay back for someone in the NFL/NBA.
Click to expand...

:thumb: seems fair to me
 
billyb said:
I do think if they let you out of your military commitment, they should make you pay the taxpayers back for the school bill. Heck $200k (or whatever it is) shouldn't be too hard to pay back for someone in the NFL/NBA.
Click to expand...

And me :thumb: but I would add, let the Ravens pay for it. They are a "For Profit Corporation" that has gotten tax breaks and a stadium from the city/state in the past (if they are not currently receiving). $200K-$400K is hardly a signing bonus to them and shows good faith towards the US taxpayer/NFL fan.
 
GoBlue1984 said:
And me :thumb: but I would add, let the Ravens pay for it. They are a "For Profit Corporation" that has gotten tax breaks and a stadium from the city/state in the past (if they are not currently receiving). $200K-$400K is hardly a signing bonus to them and shows good faith towards the US taxpayer/NFL fan.
Click to expand...
Why should the Ravens pay for it? They are simply a private employer. Boeing, GE etc all have received tax financed "incentives". Should they pay for the education of everyone they hire? Please explain your position.
 
GoBlue1984 said:
And me :thumb: but I would add, let the Ravens pay for it. They are a "For Profit Corporation" that has gotten tax breaks and a stadium from the city/state in the past (if they are not currently receiving). $200K-$400K is hardly a signing bonus to them and shows good faith towards the US taxpayer/NFL fan.
Click to expand...

not reallty fair for the ravens if/when they cut him in the pre-season
 
buff81 said:
It's an unknown how he will do since the Ravens are interested in him at WR.
It will be interesting to see how he will serve his commitment.
Click to expand...

For short team, speical pass/leave and graduation leave, should cover him

"The Ravens will hold three OTA's, with the first from May 21-23, followed by May 29-31 and the third on June 4-7. There will be a mandatory mini-camp for all rookies and veterans on June 11-13, then the long stretch of nothingness until Training Camp opens in late-July."

If he "makes' the roster, it will get complicated. Let us not forget Campbell '08

from Wiki

"The rule, known as the "Alternative Service Option", or ASO, has since been suspended after undergoing review by the Department of the Army. All players not under contract had to return to their active-duty station. Since Campbell and Mike Viti of the Buffalo Bills were under contract, they were tentatively authorized to play with their respective teams with the provision that if cut, they would have to return to their active duty station and not be able to sign with another team.[4] The Army dropped the ASO option on July 8, meaning that both players had to serve two years of their active duty commitment before they can petition for early release. Campbell, however, was not informed until July 22, after reporting to the Lions training camp. He chose Air Defense Artillery (ADA) as his duty branch, but served on the coaching staff at the Army Prep School"
 
BigBear/Packer - My point is that the money to buy out the obligation isn't significant to a pro football franchise. Yes, other employers also get "incentives" but few get the level of perpetual subsidies that pro sports teams do.

Back in the 60's - Dallas was willing to use a first round draft pick to take Roger Staubach knowing they had to wait out his 5-yr service commitment. I would like to see more pro-teams with that attitude.

Although Div1 powerhouses may be feeders/minor leagues for the NFL, the academies should be outside that; otherwise they are not meeting their mission of training officers to support the needs of the military. Sports have taken that far afield.
 
MemberLG said:
Campbell, however, was not informed until July 22, after reporting to the Lions training camp. He chose Air Defense Artillery (ADA) as his duty branch, but served on the coaching staff at the Army Prep School"
Click to expand...

Unbelievable.
 
Grudge?

scoutpilot said:
He branched Air Defense Artillery, which is about the lamest, sad-sack branch you can join and still technically be combat arms (now MFE).
Click to expand...

Wow, Scoutpilot, what do you have against this guy? Kind of harsh on one of America's finest.
 
MemberLG said:
Why? How about cadets that win some sort of scholarship (i.e. Marshall, Rhodes, Truman) and spend first two years at graduate schools, instead of serving with troops?
Click to expand...

Do you really want to compare a Marshall, Rhodes, or Truman scholarship to an assistant coaching position on a high school football team?

Admittedly, I am coming at this from the outside. I never served. I have one DS who is an AROTC MS II and a DS who was recently medically DQ'ed by NROTC. The best part of AROTC, for me as a parent, is that DS spends a large amount of time with a cohort who doesn't care that he is a "master of the universe". Most of his rewards involve more responsibility and commitment to the group.

Regarding Campbell and Steelman, it looks like indulgence in individual dreams and goals that have nothing to do with the mission of the US Army.

What do you think Pat Tillman's family thinks when they read something like this?
 
TriService2017 said:
Wow, Scoutpilot, what do you have against this guy? Kind of harsh on one of America's finest.
Click to expand...

"America's finest" is a talking point and the name of a SAF member... it's not the reality of this situation.

I would love to see how his "service" matches up to people of the same rank in the same position, if they are exactly the same, sure I'll be fine with it. If he's doing less time so he can make practice... well, then I have an issue with it.
 
cb7893 said:
Regarding Campbell and Steelman, it looks like indulgence in individual dreams and goals that have nothing to do with the mission of the US Army.

What do you think Pat Tillman's family thinks when they read something like this?
Click to expand...

Ding ding!!! on the first point.


Who cares on the second point. Appreciate Pat Tillman's service. I don't care what his family thinks though.
 
cb7893 said:
Do you really want to compare a Marshall, Rhodes, or Truman scholarship to an assistant coaching position on a high school football team?
Click to expand...

I am not comparing scholarhsip winners to an assistant coaching position.

I am focused on the end state. What's the difference between a schoarship winner that spends two years away from troops vs an assistant coach that also spends two years away from troops?

Things are subjective, although I am not a supporter, there are supporters of the grad assistant program where they argue that graduates make good role models to prepsters and better prepare them to deal with being NCAA Div I athletes/cadet.

What is 1LT Rhode Scholar Infantry Platoon leader share with his platoon - his master's thesis or his experience at Oxford?
 
LineInTheSand said:
Who cares on the second point. Appreciate Pat Tillman's service. I don't care what his family thinks though.
Click to expand...

LITS, it's called a rhetorical question, a literary device. It asks LG to step outside of the institutional closed loop of USMA (or any other SA) to look at Campbell's and Steelman's situation through other eyes; not just the Tillmans'.

And I do feel for Pat Tillman's family. I am assuming you don't know the whole story. His family had to sue the Army to learn how their son actually died.
 
MemberLG said:
What is 1LT Rhode Scholar Infantry Platoon leader share with his platoon - his master's thesis or his experience at Oxford?
Click to expand...

I don't know. Ask Martin Dempsey, MA Literature, Duke University.

A couple of years ago I watched him, quoting Thucydides, pick apart an uninformed Senator who was trying to make a case for a preemptive strike on Iran.
 
cb7893 said:
LITS, it's called a rhetorical question, a literary device. It asks LG to step outside of the institutional closed loop of USMA (or any other SA) to look at Campbell's and Steelman's situation through other eyes; not just the Tillmans'.

And I do feel for Pat Tillman's family. I am assuming you don't know the whole story. His family had to sue the Army to learn how their son actually died.
Click to expand...

The way the Army handled the Pat Tillman death was a mark on the military public affairs community. If there's more of an "inside" story than that, you are correct, but my experience, like many military PAOs, was to recoiled with the actions of some Army public affairs folks.

Of course, those failures have nothing to do with this.

Don't misunderstand me though, I think allowing people to play of professional sport, while only moderately repaying what they owe, as pathetic.
 
Do Rhodes Scholars have any added obligations, or are those two years just ticked off of their obligations?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top