Caleb Campbell

I plan on writing about the draft with a topic of much more relevance than the safety from Army that the Lions took in the 7th round of today's draft, however something about this whole situation really put a bad taste in my mouth.

I understand that it's a fantastic story for this young kid, first player to be drafted out of army in a decade. The Army also recently changed a rule regarding graduates heading to the NFL, Campbell does not have to report to duty, he can do recruiting work and exchange his time he's supposed to serve now, for reserve duty time later on. The media is very adamant about mentioning how his opportunity in the NFL is keeping him from having to serve to fulfill his duty as a soldier, but I just feel like they are missing out on two big points.

What I don't understand is how the Army makes this decision? You've enlisted at West Point, we are paying for your education so that you will become a better member of the US Army, however if you're good at football, you can go play that instead. What? What if someone at the academy was really good at gardening? Could he or she get drafted by Martha Stewart and then be able to put off their military obligations for a few years? So basically they've made a specific loophole rule for football players. Another issue I have with the media coverage is that the articles about this player, or the reactions to this article very often seem to be to the tune of, oh thank god this young player doesn't have to throw his life away in Iraq or Afghanistan. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Caleb Campbell, of his own free will, choose to apply to the Army and enroll in their school to become an officer? An education that the Army then paid for? And room and board that the Army also paid for? And I also believe that Mr Campbell also was paid by the Army to be there in school. So the Army has invested all of this time and money into a future officer that up to this day, and for the forseeable future, will not actually be doing the job he was being trained to do in school.

Why? His obligations during his time in football will be to work as a recruiter. With the amount of face time Campbell received during the second day of the draft and if Campbell actually becomes a success in the NFL, how effective of a recruiter would this guy become? He could basically show up at high schools and say "Hey I'm Caleb Campbell, the NFL player, come join the Army!". Not that I particularly care about this, I just find it funny that so many people are pushing so hard to find the sunny side of this story to be about one young man avoiding the war in Iraq, when it could potentially lead to many more becoming obligated in the future.

I don't plan on involving politics or the war in Iraq into any future posts, in case anyone was worried that this thing was going to turn into a soapbox blog. I just wanted to express an opinion about this that wasn't cookie cutter thoughtless drivel that ESPN and other big media networks can be so good at churning out.


And on a finishing note, Jason Kidd looked terrible tonight and I'll bet Mark Cuban hasn't slept in a week and a half.