Trump Tells Army-Navy Athletes Relaxed Rules Could Help Them Go Pro – The New York Times, The New York Times

The Department of Defense’s policy for its athletes seeking pro careers has shifted back and forth in recent years, with athletes required to pay back the costs of attending their academy if they immediately play professionally without earning a waiver.

Keenan Reynolds, a Navy quarterback who threw for 1, 250 yards and rushed for nearly 1, yards in his senior season in 2019, was drafted in by the Baltimore Ravens and received a waiver to join the team under relaxed rules from the Obama administration. But the Pentagon reversed itself a year later under the new Trump administration, saying before the NFL draft that it would not grant waivers in other cases.

Trump told the Army players on Saturday that his decision came after speaking with their coach, Jeff Monken.

“The last time I saw your coach, he said, ‘What about a waiver?’ I said, ‘What are you talking about a waiver?’” Trump said . “He said some of these guys could play in the NFL, you could play for the Yankees, you could play for the Mets, you could play basketball, you could play whatever.”

While the change certainly creates better prospects for players to be drafted and play for top leagues , the policy will directly affect a few players and is not likely to dramatically improve the teams of the academies in any sport. The waivers do not change the initial requirements to get into each academy,which are often more stringentthan those for universities with powerhouse athletic programs that are not connected to the military and where coaches recruit players with surefire professional prospects.

The most well-known football player to emerge from a service academy is perhaps Roger Staubach, a quarterback for Navy who won the Heisman Trophyin 1969 and spent four years serving, including a tour in Vietnam, before joining the Dallas Cowboys and winning two Super Bowls in 14 seasons in a Hall of Fame career.

Staubach was drafted by the Cowboys in – in the th round of the NFL draft, likely because of the service obligations – and did not play for the team until

“They knew that it was a long shot for me to ever play football again , ”Staubach said last year.

Only one player was selected from a service academy during the N.F.L. draft in April: Austin Cutting, a long snapper from Air Force who was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 250 th of 579 picks. Cutting agreed to serve as a recruiter while playing for the team, (according to the Pioneer Press, and he has played one snap for the Vikings this season.

Although Cutting was drafted before the rules were changed, his role might be precisely what Pentagon officials were envisioning for future athletes in the academies.

In the memo issued last month, Esper said that there “is a strong expectation that a Military Service Academy cadet or midshipman’s future professional sports employment will provide the DoD with significant favorable media exposure likely to enhance national level recruiting or public affairs missions. ”

(************************************************

Katie Rogers contributed reporting from Philadelphia.