By BRIAN LEWIS
Caleb Campbell never imagined he’d steal the show at the NFL draft, with fans at Radio City wearing jerseys from Gang Green to Green Bay serenading the Army’s senior strong safety and chanting “USA! USA!”
But when the Texan dreamt of serving his country in the Army, he imagined it’d be with a gun, not a football; as a soldier, not a recruiter.
Things change.
Campbell and fellow team captain Mike Viti saw their lives change Sunday, when the former got drafted in the seventh round by Detroit and the latter inked a free-agent deal with Buffalo as the Bills’ newest fullback. But they also changed in 2005 when Army instituted an alternative service option.
Cadets accepted into the program owe just two years of active service, during which they can play their sport and be assigned to recruiting stations. If they make it two years, they can buy out the three years left on their commitment for six years of reserve time _ something that’s made headlines.
Even though six Army athletes had already applied for the program and three met the requirements, this dup from the high-profile football team have thrust it under the microscope _ and it’s drawn fire in some quarters because of the war and because Navy and Air Force haven’t followed suit.
“I find (criticism) in some ways motivating to make sure I make the team. If we didn’t have critics, the world would be a boring place,” Caleb said.
“When I came to West Point, I wasn’t saying, ‘I hope they make a new policy so I don’t have to go to Iraq.’ I knew what I was getting into. I knew I was going to have the opportunity to be a platoon leader and lead soldiers into a potential combat situation, because I enrolled here during a time of war. I knew exactly what I was getting into.”
Few begrudge Campbell joining Ronnie McAda _ Mr. Irrelevant in 1997 _ as the only Cadets taken in the NFL draft since 1970. But critics point out Army _ 13-34 the last four years, and without a winning season since 1996 _ is the only academy that’s adopted the program. And Campbell has even gotten questioned by fellow Cadets, many of whom are headed to Iraq, where there have already been 4,052 confirmed military deaths.
“I don’t look at it as backing away from my commitment; I’m still serving my country in the role of a recruiter,” Viti said. “My service to my nation won’t be done when I’m done with the Bills. No matter if I spend one day or 10 years in the NFL I plan on serving my nation when my career’s over.
“A lot of people have the misconception that if you’re not getting bullets slung by your head, that you’re not serving your nation in a time of war. There are service support branches in the Army for a reason; when you start to split hairs, you demean some of the other branches of the U.S. Army.”
Pride in the cause is universal among these Cadets, a breed apart. While most NFL hopefuls spent Sunday either in Radio City or watching the draft with BlackBerrys in hand, Viti brought his regimental staff down to Riverside Park for a wreath-laying ceremony for Ulysses S. Grant.
These are not generally the sort to shirk duties.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Campbell said. “If football doesn’t work out, I get to do what I came to the Academy for: I get to be an officer, and that’s something I love as well. Mike and I know we’re very fortunate to be in this situation.”
Campbell couldn’t be in a more fortunate situation than Detroit, where CEO Matt Millen’s son Marcus played alongside him at Army and coach Rod Marinelli is an Army vet who did a tour in Vietnam.
“I’ve seen him since his freshman year. If you took West Point off his chest and put another school on, he’d still get drafted,” said Millen, who’ll move the 6-2, 229-pounder to linebacker.
“First, he’s a good football player. Second, he’s what you’re looking for in terms of football character. He embodies what the academy is all about, and that’s what everyone in this country should be trying to be. He’s got skills, he’s got desire and he’s going to get a great opportunity.”