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West Point graduate and Detroit Lions seventh-round draft pick Caleb Campbell learned yesterday that he will have to put his football career on hold while he fulfills his military service obligation. And while Campbell isn’t complaining, he does seem to think the Department of Defense could have been more straight with him.
In an interview with Deadspin’s Clay Travis (Yes, Buzz Bissinger, Deadspin can do actual reporting), Campbell said that even though the Department of Defense apparently decided to change its policy on July 8, no one bothered to tell him until July 23, after he had made the trip to Detroit to start training camp.
Campbell was at West Point last week and his superiors presumably had ample opportunity to tell him if any changes were coming, but Campbell said the Department of Defense decision-makers “left me in the complete dark. No one said a thing to me on campus last week about anything changing. Nothing.”
Campbell doesn’t know what the future holds for him, but he thinks he will be assigned to be a graduate assistant with either the Army football team or the West Point Prep School football team this fall. After that it could be Iraq or Afghanistan.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:51 am
The Army really screwed this thing up. Colin Cowherd is nailing them on it this morning.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 10:53 am
This situation with him is so messed up. I understand he made a commitment to his country but this has been handled so terribly by the Army’s PR department. If I was offered a scholarship to play a sport for the Army (pre-supposing I am athletic enough to warrant a scholarship) I would think long and hard after this debacle.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:02 am
This is a BOHICA, a term I learned while on active duty for 10 years..
Lt Campbell welcome to the US Army!
If you guys don’t know the term, I’ll post the meaning later! If you do enjoy!!!
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I have no problem with the Army holding him to his military commitment but don’t jerk the kid around. They really botched this one.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
stop loss!
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
As a Naval officer and someone who served a commitment after graduation I feel terrible for Campbell. Officers who play professional sports go a long way toward advertising for their respective service academies. Every year the services lose dozens of graduating officers who fail physicals, get accepted to graduate school programs, or who otherwise do not actually serve on active duty. It is fallacious to believe that he is somehow reneging on a commitment and is alone among his peers. He could have served as an ambassador, spokesperson, and a reservist. It is the Army that is suddently reneging on its promises and now has a black eye from this whole affair. I would have rooted for Campbell BECAUSE he was one of us.
The worst part is the Army spokesperson who uses the expression, “it is what it is.” This cop-out phrase seems to be quite popular these days in the military and (oddly) in the sports world. What it means is, “this makes no sense and I can’t possibly explain it so I will make no attempt.”
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:07 am
well the army really screwed the pooch on this on one.
campbell could have been a great PR guy for the army while on the lions.
but now the army is creating a ton of bad press by taking away his ability to play in the NFL.
good job Army!
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I would be so pissed if I got drafted by the NFL just to be re-drafted by Army. It’s just wrong to do this to a person. If you need to change the rules in the middle of the game you need to do it from that day forward.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Bend over here it comes asshole! Hard to say what ia “right” in this situation. Lots of angles. Hopefully this guy(as well as the rest of our troops) makes it back home! Lots of pro athletes have taken time off for service, if he really can play he will get a shot in two years or so.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Typical military communication. All communication is on a “need to know” basis, except that those that need to know aren’t told either.
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July 24th, 2008 at 11:20 am
This isn’t a stoploss you moron.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I’m not sure what sort of due-dilegence the Lions did regarding the special nature of drafting a player from the military institutions, but I’m guessing that Matt Millen has just invented a brand new way to screw up a draft pick! Simply amazing, Matt! Well done!
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Rating: 4.45 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:25 am
@kidwithhelmet
“If I was offered a scholarship to play a sport for the Army…”
You don’t get offered scholarships to PLAY at Army. You get a free education (including room and board) because you make a 5-year commitment to the service. Also at the military academies, it is mandatory to be involved in a certain number of activities (whichever ones you choose).
I don’t get the DoD making ‘precedents’ about this. There has been more than a handful of guys from the Naval Academy who served then played ball. Roger Staubach being the most noteworthy.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:26 am
This is a simple issue:
The Army did not want the embarassment of Caleb Campbell representing the Army as a Detroit Lion.
(That was a layup, I shouldnt even have taken it)
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Rating: 4.85 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:26 am
The kid went to West Point so he has an obligation but did they have to wait several months to make a decision on his status??? Pretty f*cked up.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Just to clarify, I do feel bad that the kid got jerked around.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:29 am
He’s now under the command of Major Ben Dover.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Hey GR365, rather than BOHICA, I’d say the situation is more FUBAR!
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Blame the NAVY for this, not the Army.
“Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter ruled last month that Mitch Harris must serve a five-year active duty commitment. Harris, a 22-year-old pitcher with a 95-mph fastball, was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round in this year’s draft.
Harris acknowledged being surprised by the ruling because Campbell was being allowed to pursue football while completing his military service as a recruiter and in the reserves.
“Army has redefined the Alternative Service Option to include playing professional sports,” Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk has said. “Our coaches are now operating under a significant handicap when recruiting head-to-head with Army. It may not be reflected on the playing field today, but I can guarantee you that it will result in a competitive disadvantage down the road.”
What that means is that the Navy complained to the DOD because they didn’t want the Army having a competative advantage in recruiting. It’s not enough to just have the DOD revise the policy for the future, they had to force the Army to dash Campbell’s NFL dreams so that the Army wouldn’t be able to say “Look, we sent a player ot the NFL” to future recruits.
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Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Service academies are free–you don’t get a scholarship…Yes the army could have handled this better, but Campbell knew coming in to Westpoint that this was the deal–you get a free education and train, then you become a part of the US Military.
–David Robinson knew this when he signed on. And that’s why, even when he was offered a way out of serving in the Navy he served on a sub for 3 years.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 11:52 am
BOHICA, indeed!!!
His “superiors” at WP probably had nothing to do with it and weren’t notified of the decision made by the top brass at the Pentagon either. I still think that someone got on the phone with the Lions coaching staff and concluded that Caleb Campbell was not going to make the team so why prolong the inevitable. HUAW, anyone?
It still stinks for just about everyone involved.
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July 24th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
ZNorseman,
Yes, that is how it works. I once received a Regimental Board at WP for coming back a little late from leave. None of the other three cadets (all from different companies) that were with me received any punishment whatsoever. When I disputed it (citing a reg that holds all cadets to the same standards/punishment), what did they do? Well, I still received walking tours as a result of my Regimental Board, but I wasn’t alone. Three former travel mates of mine joined me - and they weren’t very happy about being punished well after the fact.
The Long Gray Lie lives…
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Hey fire_millen I’m sooo sick of all these Lions stories.
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July 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Florio, back me up on this since my ConLaw is a bit weak. But couldn’t Campbell challenge the law as an ex post facto law? He’d have to actually refuse to do anything other than recruit, and get charged w/ a crime for doing so. But then that crime would be for showing up for recruiting and not other military duties, which at the time of his agreement w/ the army was NOT a crime and was only made as such this past week.
It’s a stretch, but a good lawyer (hah) might make it work…
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July 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Bend Over Here It Comes Again.
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