More post-lockout NFL news: Sailors to report, Marine a free agent
July 26th, 2011 | Army Football Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
The Boston Herald is reporting that two former Naval Academy standouts are expected to be joining the New England Patriots very soon.
Wide receiver Tyree Barnes and running back Eric Kettani — each commissioned as officers in 2009 — will be reporting to Patriots headquarters in Foxboro, Mass., this week, according to the paper. Barnes and Kettani both served the mandatory two years on active-duty that the Defense Department requires of service academy graduates seeking to play professional sports.
Both players, along with fellow class of 2009 grad Shun White, were kept on New England’s Reserve/Military list the past two seasons. White, who at last check was serving aboard the destroyer Stout, is still on active-duty. But he’s expected to join the Patriots later this year, according to the Herald.
Former Army star hoping for a shot
Collin Mooney, who set Army’s single season rushing record in 2008, is also now eligible to join an NFL team. His agent has been talking to teams and he is hoping to be in somebody’s camp by the weekend, according to the Times Herald-Record.
Currently stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Mooney is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Caleb Campbell. A 2008 West Point graduate, Campbell made the Detroit Lions last year as a linebacker after serving for two years on active duty. He’s the only West Point grad currently in the NFL.
Hall a free agent
Former Marine Ahmard Hall, the only prior enlisted player in the NFL last year, is now officially on the open market. The unrestricted free agent fullback has spent his entire five-year career with the Tennessee Titans, and he’s open to coming back to the team.
“I would love to retire as a Titan, and I don’t have a problem putting that out there,” Hall told The Tennessean. “But if I land with another team they will have my full allegiance and I will be 100 percent with them.”
Hall is considered one of the top fullbacks in the league, having helped Chris Johnson run for over 2,000 yards in 2009.
An update on Shun White
October 15th, 2010 | Football Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
Shun White breaks away for a 53-yard gain during the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2006. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
It was back in March the last time After Action heard news about Shun White, one of Naval Academy’s most acclaimed football players in recent years. My journalistic cousins at Navy Times had reported back then on some of the questions raised by his contract with the New England Patriots and late graduation from the Naval Academy.
Well, White has since been commissioned as a naval officer, and he’s now is serving aboard the destroyer Stout, according to an Oct. 14 press release on DVIDS. The Stout is taking part in “Joint Warrior 10-2,” a multinational excercise off the coast of Scotland, the release said. White, an ensign, is an anti-submarine warfare officer aboard the ship, and the author asked the former Navy star about ASW.
“ASW is a thinking warfare that requires a lot of quick reaction,” said White. “As an ASW watch team, it is important that you know more about your enemy from a tactical stand point than he does of you.”
Some in the fleet may have also seen White recently in NEX mailers, where his image is used to advertise Sharp Quattron flatscreens (link requires registration).
Navy’s sixth leading rusher of all time, White ran for a career-high 1,092 yards during his senior season in 2008. He set a Navy record that year when he rushed for a mind-boggling 348 yards in a game against Towson. White also holds school records for average yards per rush in a season (8.3 in 2008 ) and average yards per rush over a career (8.9)
An explanation of the NFL’s reserve/military list
June 16th, 2010 | Football Marine Corps Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
New England's Bill Belichick has used the military/ reserve list to sign a few former Naval Academy football players. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Anyone who follows Navy football knows that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick loves to give talented Midshipmen a shot at the NFL. Belichick’s father coached and worked as a scout at Navy for many years, and the younger Belichick has signed a handful of Navy grads and kept them on the team using the NFL’s reserve/military.
As far as I can see, the rules for list aren’t spelled out anywhere online, so it never fails to confuse folks. So here’s a very basic description of how it works from Patriots.com by Patriots Football Weekly writer Andy Hart:
Can U explain the Military Reserve and how and when it’s used?
Robert BumgardnerThe list is used for any player who is actively involved with the Armed Forces, and therefore cannot play out his NFL contract. The contract is essentially tolled, as the player is not paid and does not count against a team’s roster limit. The team can then activate the player and, if it chooses, expect him to play out the terms of the contract at whatever time he completes his military commitments. The Patriots currently have three players from the Navy on their Reserve/Military list: WR Tyree Barnes, WR Shun White and RB Eric Kettani.
For another explanation of the military/reserve list, check out this 2009 story on Boston.com.
Shun White, the Navy and the NFL
March 15th, 2010 | Football Marine Corps Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
Shun White, seen playing for Navy during the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Dec. 2006, is under contract with the New England Patriots. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Trivia question: Which NFL team has three members of the Naval Academy class of 2009 on its roster?
Answer: The New England Patriots.
One of those players is former standout slotback Shun White, whose current situation at the Naval Academy is examined in this week’s edition of Navy Times. White, who signed with the Patriots as a free agent in May 2009, was allowed to reschedule an exam in order to practice with New England last spring, according to one of colleague Phil Ewing’s sources. And close to a year after his classmates received their commissions, White remains at the academy.
Ewing talked with sources in the Navy community who are concerned that allowing White and officers in the fleet to be under contract with NFL teams gives football players an incentive to not fulfill their service commitments.
USNA Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk disagrees, telling Navy Times that letting former Navy players have relationships with an NFL team doesn’t mean that they’ll be allowed out of their service commitment:
“It’s very clear to everyone on the Yard … with those that will ask the question, ‘Is there any chance that the secretary of the Navy might release us to play in the NFL?’ The answer is ‘no’ here,” Gladchuk told Navy Times. “Number one, you’ve got an obligation to go serve; number two, the NFL knows very clearly that as a … sailor or Marine, there’s no chance at all for them to participate.”
Because the article is for subscribers only, I can’t give any more details out here, but I’d recommend logging in or picking up a copy of Navy Times to read the full story.
Oh, and the other two sailors on the Patriots roster? Ensign Eric Kettani, who played fullback for the Mids, and Ensign Tyree Barnes, who played wide receiver.