Football Players Who Served

“Let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” -- Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865

The Last Full Measure

This was Memorial Day weekend. It’s a time when we gather with our families in our towns and celebrate the coming summer with cookouts, cold beer, remembering the goods times and looking ahead with anticipation to the summer months. It’s also a time when we remember more somberly those who have given the last full measure of devotion to protect America’s freedom, as well as giving thanks to those who serve today to ensure those blessings of liberty. 

America’s football players and coaches have a long and proud history of sacrificing for our country. There was a time when it was common for football players to have served in the military before or even during their careers. It is too honored a tradition to start mentioning individuals without forgetting the contributions of too many. We know about Iowa Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick, who left law school at Iowa to enlist in the Navy after Pearl Harbor and died in a training accident. We know about Lt. Robert Kalsu, the Buffalo Bills guard, who gave his life in Vietnam in 1970.  And can it be five years since Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman joined his brother in the Army Rangers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and was tragically killed in Afghanistan in 2004? 

We also know of the honored survivors, numbering in the thousands, who have worn both a football uniform and the uniform of their country with equal distinction. As we hold dear our most favored and uniquely American game, we should remember those who have given so much to protecting both the nation and the game.

The Client I Didn’t Get

One person I had the pleasure of meeting, who has both worn a football and a military uniform well, was a senior offensive tackle at the Naval Academy who went by the unusual moniker of “Hoot.” He was a 6-6, 295-pounder from a great family in Raleigh, N.C. We met while I was trying to recruit him to be my client as he appeared to have the stuff of an NFL player. I had dinner with him, his mom and dad and his younger brother Tyson, who would go onto follow his brother as a standout lineman at Navy and into the service. We talked that night in an Italian restaurant in Baltimore about what would be involved in getting permission for him to pursue a pro career and honor his service commitment. As we talked at length about what would be necessary for him keep playing, we envisioned a Chad Hennings-like reserve service commitment. Although he liked the possibility of continuing to play, he never wavered in his commitment to the service. 

But that was before everything was shattered by 9/11. I didn’t get Edward Hughes “Hoot” Stahl as a client. He went with a bigger agency in what his dad said was “an agonizing choice.” I liked his dad, too.

After 9/11, it didn’t matter much since able-bodied young men and women were needed in military uniforms. But I have thought often of that tall, rangy young man, who seemed as fine a person as he was a player. As war in far away places has dominated the national consciousness, I still think of that young man, his family and that dinner in Baltimore, after his Navy team beat Army in the only game that really matters, in what was his last football game.  I knew he was pursuing the Marine option at the Naval Academy; after all, it’s hard to fit a 6-6 frame into a submarine.

In the days and years after 9/11, I hoped that Hoot was both well and doing well in his work in the Marine Corps. I checked newspapers and listened for his name in media accounts. I was pleased that I never heard it. According to a Dec. 22, 2006, story that ran on the Naval Academy’s athletic Web site, Marine Capt. Edward Stahl had finished his active military service after five years, including two tours in Iraq, and returned home safely. I hope he remains so. I’ve never been as pleased not to have gotten a client, especially because the work he went on to do was more important than football. 

My Opposite Number

I’ll mention one more person who has worn the uniform of his country and today works on behalf of the game of football and those who play it. His name is Dr. Dave Ridpath and he’s a professor of sports management at Ohio University. I am proud to call Dave Ridpath my friend. He’s making a difference on issues impacting college athletics in his scholarship and in his involvement with the Drake Group, a group of faculty working to reform college athletics. But before he was Dr. Ridpath, he was Capt. Ridpath of the U.S. Army and the All-Army wrestling team.

Dave and I have known each other for a decade, and we have carried on a friendship that has included visits in each other’s classes and conference appearances. But our friendship began when he was the assistant athletic director for compliance at Marshall University and I was an agent recruiting Marshall players. Compliance directors and agents aren’t supposed to get along, let alone become friends. But Dave set up a program that helped agents who were willing to register and work through his office to gain access to Marshall players and their families that was both safe and positive for everyone concerned.

He helped set up meetings with players’ parents, and I always gave him a written summary of those meetings. He and his staff distributed the written materials from firms playing within the rules to players. There was no cheating because there was no point doing it. Dave’s vigilance made playing within the rules the most effective way for all agents.  He set all this up after having been burned by an agent feeding frenzy surrounding Randy Moss the year before. And his proactive agent-counseling program ensured that the next year’s 12-0 team, which included several draft picks and more than a dozen players who signed NFL contracts, had sane and reasonable chances to select agents who best fit their individual needs as people.

I hope some day that Dr. Ridpath writes about the groundbreaking pro sports counseling program he created at Marshall and that more schools embrace what he did. He was a good soldier, and he is an even better man. 

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