The army is awful with public relations.

[Cali Coug]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3502211

This is pretty crappy treatment of one of their own.

[MikeWaters]

Yup. the Army should have followed the rules from the beginning and never let him think he could do it.

I loved it when the Navy originally announced that David Robinson couldnt' serve in the Navy because he was too tall. Then they were criticized for allowing him in in the first place, and then he served two years.

If you want to play pro sports immediately after college, don't go to an academy, don't sign up for the ROTC, don't enlist.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Yup. the Army should have followed the rules from the beginning and never let him think he could do it.

I loved it when the Navy originally announced that David Robinson couldnt' serve in the Navy because he was too tall. Then they were criticized for allowing him in in the first place, and then he served two years.

If you want to play pro sports immediately after college, don't go to an academy, don't sign up for the ROTC, don't enlist.

That is my problem with it. If the army wants to say you can't be a professional athlete, they are perfectly entitled to do so. People know what they are signing up for when they join. In this case, though, the army told the guy 2 years ago he could go pro, then let him go to the combine, participate in the draft, etc., and when he finally goes to try out for a team, they tell him he can't play. That is pretty lousy for an organization that typically places honor and loyalty on a much higher pedestal.

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3502211

This is pretty crappy treatment of one of their own.

There are two minor league baseball players affected also. The Army is allowing them to finish their seasons though before they have to report.

But I agree with Mike, don't go to a service academy if you have any aspiration to play professional sports.

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

That is my problem with it. If the army wants to say you can't be a professional athlete, they are perfectly entitled to do so. People know what they are signing up for when they join. In this case, though, the army told the guy 2 years ago he could go pro, then let him go to the combine, participate in the draft, etc., and when he finally goes to try out for a team, they tell him he can't play. That is pretty lousy for an organization that typically places honor and loyalty on a much higher pedestal.

I also agree with this. The Army can rewrite their rules, but to make it retroactive? I particularly feel for the baseball players because they were under contract.

[MikeWaters]

Guys, when you are the military, you are OWNED by the military.

How is this guy going to complain about not going to tryouts when he thought he could versus the guys that got stop-loss orders out of the blue and died in Iraq?

[il Padrino Ute]

I'd like to hear Goatnapper's take on this article.

I am really impressed by the kid's attitude about this. He could have pouted and whined, but chose to be a man about it. Good for him.