Army-Navy reinforces conversation HS student-athletes must have with families on commitment | Opinion

Dec. 13—There's probably not a lot on which we can agree with college football — or society in general for that matter these days.

Perhaps Dec. 10, however, something transpired that is as close to a guarantee of unison.

The annual Army-Navy football game.

Because within it, we see the best of us — young men battling to top their archrival, no doubt, but also acknowledging they'll be competing on a different battlefront soon, one with much more consequence.

When you see the annual introduction video on CBS, the weight of this game and why it has the place it does in hearts and minds is reinforced. Those well-produced montages can elicit emotion from the most hardened souls in their various incarnations.

For the 2022 intro, CBS brought eight student-athletes' families to New York to talk about their sons and what the game means to them.

The Army-Navy Game is a celebration of family and dedication.

This month, we brought eight families to New York City with one thing in common: they all have sons who play college football for the U.S Military Academy or the U.S. Naval Academy.

This is their story. pic.twitter.com/cOkCDxwUPD

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) December 10, 2022

What one of the fathers said truly hit home.

"It's the only game where everyone playing is willing to die for everyone watching."

In that, we are not just reminded of the weight of a rivalry game.

We are also reminded of the conversation — or series of them — that come before that as high school student-athletes.

It requires a special kind of commitment from a young person to aspire for and attend a service academy and plot your future from there, all the while knowing the grim realities of combat could await.

Let's be real — not all of us are capable of considering that choice as teenagers, student-athletes or not.

When I was in high school at Harvey in the mid-to-late 90s, my grandfather — who served in the Marines in World War II and Korea and was the bravest man I've ever known — took me to a recruiting station, unbeknownst to my mother and to a certain extent to me, to hear out the opportunity. Admittedly, I just didn't have that kind of wherewithal to gauge a military future like my grandfather.

It is from that base though that, from my peers who went on to lengthy military careers to student-athletes who have embarked on that path to all young people who make that choice, your respect deepens for those who can and do.

As a teenager, you tend to feel free and alive. You feel, as well you should, the whole world and its possibility is almost entirely in front of you. You learn and mature along the way — and not everything goes perfectly. But the reality of the world doesn't feel as stark. Not just yet.

It's one thing to ponder the possibility of being that teenager and hearing out a service academy commitment.

It's another altogether to envision yourself there — and then actually do it.

You have questions. Your parents do, too — wondering if you're prepared for such a serious undertaking.

On those CBS broadcasts of Army-Navy, more so than any other college football games, a point is made to emphasize hometowns.

They come from all walks of life and locations — Hawaii to Maine, Texas to New York, Washington to Florida. And yes for us locally, Ohio as well.

Just for a split second, before the next snap, it's easy to picture that hometown for that young man. It's easy to see a dining room or living room, as that young man sits across from his family and says, "This is what I want to do with my life."

You may not know them personally, but you sense you have a glimpse at their character — and a deep affinity for it.

Since 2007, as far back as rosters are readily available, there have been eight News-Herald coverage area student-athletes who have been on the end-of-season football rosters for Army or Navy.

This year, Benedictine grad Billy Boehlke is the punter for Army as a junior, with 43 punts for a 38.3-yard average and seven landing inside the 20. He was holder on the winning field goal as Army rallied to defeat Navy over the weekend, 20-17, in double overtime. The Bengals' football handle on Twitter joyfully noted he was the school's 2019 Mr. Benedictine while quote-tweeting the field-goal video from Army.

WE'RE SINGING SECOND!!#GoArmy — #BEATnavy pic.twitter.com/ADyHnMhtz3

— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 10, 2022

We haven't had a player on the end-of-season roster at Navy since Mentor grad Brady DeMell was a senior center in 2011 — and having covered him in hockey for the Cardinals, seeing him during Army-Navy in those days was a source of pride. In 2008, there were three News-Herald coverage area players at Navy — all contributors during their Midshipmen careers in DeMell, Bobby Doyle (Chardon) and Eric Kettani (Lake Catholic). Of course, Kettani also went on to try out for the NFL with the Patriots and a few other teams.

Across all sports at Army and Navy, there are four former News-Herald coverage area student-athletes rostered in their sports this school year, all at Navy. In addition to Boehlke at Army, South grad Max Lapuh is a junior hurdler for Navy's men's track and field team, and Hawken grads Sydney Bare, a sophomore, and Libby Miller, a senior, are breaststrokers on Navy's women's swimming and diving squad.

Again, seeing student-athletes who developed in their formative years before your eyes now participating in college sports while serving their country can't help but make one beam.

In the interest of being transparent, by the way, so that service academy is also noted, there are currently no student-athletes this school year on athletic rosters at Air Force.

And of course, there's been countless more through the decades at Army, Navy and Air Force not mentioned here who have traversed that same athletic and life path, each with our utmost respect.

"It's the only game where everyone playing is willing to die for everyone watching."

Those words resonate deeply amid watching Army-Navy football, knowing it's more of an honor than an event as a viewer.

When it's your own young people who have made that laudable service academy choice for their lives — and have had that talk with their families as a 17- or 18-year-old — that resonation grows even deeper.