[bozlady]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d ... nfirm=true

What in the world?? Why did they allow him to participate in the draft in the first place?!!! UGH!!!!

[LUconn]

I just heard an interview with him on the radio this past weekend and he said that he would be posted locally if he made the team but if he didn't he would be assigned overseas most likely. I wonder why they changed their mind so abruptly.

[BJWilliams]

This could raise a very big stink potentially because he was one of the more inspirational stories of the draft this year (and he'd really have been a story if he made the Lions roster)

[LUconn]

I think the army just found a way to kill recruiting for their football team. As if they didn't already suck enough.

[Hold My Own]

I dont think he wants to be "that guy" but there very well could be a law suit coming from this...I was listening to the radio today and a west point grad said there were 2 or 3 guys that he graduated with that were "savants" in their field and went on to work for other organizations such as NASA or something like that...this is no different...he's obviously in the top tier of athletes and he should be able to do the same as those that are the Rhode Scholars and go on to do other things

[bozlady]

By Jill Lieber Steeg, USA TODAY

Capt. Schulyer Williamson, only the second Army graduate to be selected in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft when he was chosen by the Detroit Tigers in 2005, is disappointed that he won't be able to see recent West Point graduate Caleb Campbell realize his dream of playing for the NFL's Detroit Lions this season.
"It's a shame," Williamson, who participated in the Army's Alternative Service Program for one year before retiring from baseball to pursue his Army career, said Thursday. He has since served in Iraq. "In my eyes, Caleb can do more to help the Army by playing in the NFL than I did in my 15 months in Iraq."

Initially, Campbell, drafted in the seventh round in April, thought he was going to be allowed to play football under the Army's Alternative Service Program, carrying out his military service commitment as a recruiter in the Detroit area. A second lieutenant who trained as an air defense artilleryman at West Point, Campbell participated in the Lions' spring and summer minicamps, moving from strong safety to linebacker.

However, in recent weeks, the Department of Defense reinterpreted the Alternative Service policy, and Wednesday, the Army officially informed Campbell and the Lions he would be required to serve at least two years on active duty before he could apply to be released. When he got the news, the day before Lions' training camp was scheduled to open, Campbell told the Oakland Press of Pontiac that he broke down and cried.

"I've always felt I've had the best of both worlds," he told ESPN radio Thursday. "I had a chance to pursue my dreams and the chance to be an Army officer, and now I have the best of one world. I'm just kind of confused. I think it blindsided a lot of people."

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Army | Department of Defense | Iraq | Major League Baseball | Detroit Tigers | Detroit Lions | Reds | West Point | Nick | Williamson | Oakland Press of Pontiac | Caleb Campbell | Director of Communications
Williamson says he was one of those who was blindsided. A catcher, he gave up his baseball dream after a year, when his younger brother Nick returned home from fighting in the Iraq.

"I took it personally," said Williamson, whose brother has since left the Army. "I'm a decent leader, so I decided to go into the force and take care of people like my brother. I believe in the Army. I believe in helping people. We need more leaders in the Army.

"Team sports athletes are the best leaders we have. Seeing people like Caleb make it in the NFL would've inspired more athletes to come to West Point, and if they didn't make the pros, then I'd have another soldier who can lead."

Williamson believes that his year in the Tigers' minor league system, the five years infielder Josh Holden, a 2003 West Point graduate, spent in the Reds minor league system (he was cut this spring and began the process of applying for reinstatement to active duty), and Campbell's brief time with the Lions were priceless recruiting platforms for the Army. According to Col. Bryan Hilferty, West Point's Director of Communications, during this time of war, the Army needs to recruit 80,000 men and women each year.

"I spent one season in baseball, and I was on camera every night," Williamson said. "I got the opportunity every night to say something positive about the Army. The same would've been true for Caleb. Even if we just got one or two people enlisting every time we were on camera, it would've helped the Army.

"This is a bad decision. It's bad for Caleb because he's living a dream. And it's sad for the Army because we got a lot of positive publicity from it."

Hilferty said West Point accepts the decision: "We're soldiers, we expressed our concerns, but the Army and the Department of Defense made the decision and we support it, which is what soldiers do."

Meanwhile, Campbell, though still disappointed, already seems to have turned the page. He told the Associated Press he's "really excited" for his next assignment — as a graduate assistant football coach either at West Point or the service academy's preparatory school. After a year, he said, he will report to officer training.

"You know what? I came to West Point to be a soldier, and that's what I'm going to be," Campbell told ESPN radio.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... bell_N.htm