Comments on: Caleb Campbell Re-Drafted by Army

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:16:51 +0000

This whole story pisses me off. This kid hasn't done anything in his military career, all he's done is go to an extrememly strict college. How many players have been drafted from Army ever? If he wanted to play in the NFL he should have went to a 4 year college. You go to a military school to join the military, not puss out because you may go to war. I was in the Marine Corp. and was injured over in Iraq and hearing about all the credit this kids getting for doing nothing is total bulls!#$. He should give credit not to himself because he doesn't deserve any, but to the men and women over there now, who are brave and courageous enough to fight for their country.

By: Rick Almeida

Rick Almeida — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:29:49 +0000

Interestingly, Lt. Campbell was interviewed on Sirius NFL Radio this afternoon, and he was asked about his upcoming duty assignment. Now that he won't be in Lions training camp, Campbell will report for duty...

...as a graduate assistant at West Point, on the coaching staff of the football team.

By: MJ

MJ — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:30:03 +0000

The Army isn't recalling him because they want to. They're recalling him because they're being forced to by the Secretary of Defense. The Army certainly did mishandle the issue, but it was on the front end, not the back end. They never should have violated DOD orders by letting Campbell play in the first place.

By: markm

markm — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:23:34 +0000

DoD rules aside...as a Michigander, trust me, they are doing him a favor.

By: JoeMac3313

JoeMac3313 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:48:29 +0000

Lt Campbell has handled the situation with all the class the Army has not. Look at the larger picture for Army recruiting which has been a little underwhelming recently. This is a crippling blow that is receiving bad PR on major sports sites and the backlash has been overwhelmingly bad. As a 7th rounder Campbell was a long shot but the Army would have received an amount of good publicity that would have helped recruiting. Remember this line from 'Good Morning Vietnam', "if it is being done right, here or abroad, it is not being done by the U.S. Army."

By: Boyd

Boyd — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:19:45 +0000

The policy was not in place when Campbell enrolled.

Maybe not, I didn't follow the ins and outs of the discussion. But it was certainly in place when the Lions expended a draft pick on him.

By: Fence

Fence — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:27:38 +0000

he was trained to be a soldier and a leader at the expense of the taxpayer.

As one of those taxpayers, can I say we'd get a much better return on that investment taxing his NFL salary?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:45:37 +0000

The DOD did NOT agree to the policy. In fact, the opposite is true. This was a case of the Army trying to get away with something.

The policy was not in place when Campbell enrolled.

By: Observer

Observer — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:28:40 +0000

Only two things matter in this case: West Point policy of letting its graduates apply for the NFL draft and play in the league upon selection was in place when Campbell enrolled in 2005. Now West Point has decided to change the rule, after Campbell had admirably served his duty and was ready to join the Armed Forces if he was not drafted. This is an unjust action, which shouldn't occur within any branch of military service in the United States of America.

By: Steve Z

Steve Z — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:41:38 +0000

"Just me", the point is not whether West Point should be in the business of providing recruits an opportunity to play pro ball. That is a legitimate discussion. The problem is that the discussion took place already, and as James notes, the DoD decided in favor of the policy.

Now that there has been some heat (though strangely I have not heard any until today), the DoD changes course midstream. When you graduate from a school that prides itself on the honor code, it seems you would expect that bargains made there would be honored.

But this is just one in a long line of examples of the DoD not honoring its obligations to soldiers/officers. It really is shameful.

As I stated earlier, there is a valid discussion to be had about whether this policy should have ever existed, but since it did, it should be honored for those who relied on it. The best way for the DoD to handle this would be to change the policy today for everyone matriculating into an Academy from here on, but if you enrolled while the policy was in effect, it should be honored.

By: just me

just me — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:10:42 +0000

Oh I don't disagree with the affect the policy will have on recruitment, but in the end the service academies are about training leaders for military service not providing recruits to the NFL and other professional sports.

By: mike

mike — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:10:03 +0000

Officers can't get a BCD - only a dismissal at a court-martial

By: Boyd

Boyd — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:59:48 +0000

Yeah, but this is just another case of a military service promising one thing to their folks, and then when the time comes for the service to hold up their end of the bargain, they decide to change the rules. Lord knows they wouldn't let 2nd Lt Campbell change his mind at this late date, would they? Nope, he'd be tried, convicted and booted out of the Army with a General-OTH, at best. Maybe even the Big Chicken Dinner. As mike said, this is going to do the Academy's recruitment efforts no good.

By: just me

just me — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:42:10 +0000

While I empathize with him to some degree-he went to West Point, he was trained to be a soldier and a leader at the expense of the taxpayer. If the Army needs him and there is a war on, then he goes.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:26:27 +0000

I wouldn't be surprised if a few folks weigh in on this and decide to let him play - the Army needs some good PR right now.

With other folks going through their third or fourth deployments in Iraq, I'd be mightly surprised if the Army relented.