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Pete ThamelESPN
A sudden potential roadblock has emerged that could prevent Army star linebacker Andre Carter II and other talented athletes at service academies from playing professional sports directly out of school.
The Military Times has reported that a potential change in the policy for athletes at military academies emerged amid part of a bill being passed through Congress. Since 2019, athletes at military academies have had the ability to apply for a waiver to delay their active service requirement and immediately pursue professional sports opportunities.
That rule, pushed through by former President Donald Trump in 2019, appears on the cusp of being revoked. Tucked in Section 553 of the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the Senate on Thursday and is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk, is language that states an “agreement by a cadet or midshipman to play professional sport constitutes a breach of service obligation.” The bill covers Army, Navy and Air Force and states: “The cadet may not obtain employment, including as a professional athlete, until after completing the cadet’s commissioned service obligation.” That obligation is, according to Army, five years of active duty and three years in the individual ready reserve.
The change is expected to take place when the bill is signed, which could be as early as next week. Carter and other current athletes at service academies will not be grandfathered in, meaning they would lose the ability to immediately pursue professional sports opportunities.
Heading into this season, Carter’s NFL draft potential was one of the feel-good stories in college football. The Black Knights star is Mel Kiper’s No. 22-ranked player for the upcoming draft, a stunning development for a school that hasn’t had a first-round pick since 1947 and just two total players drafted since 1969.
Carter chose to stay at Army his final two seasons out of loyalty, despite being a player whose talent could command a large sum of money on the Name, Image and Likeness market. He’s 6-foot-7, 260 pounds and talented enough to play at any blue blood. His family says transferring was never a serious consideration, even after leading the country in sacks in 2021 with 1.19 per game. (He finished ahead of Will Anderson Jr., the Alabama outside linebacker who is the only OLB ranked ahead of him in Kiper’s draft rankings.)
After two years at the academy, all cadets going into their junior year “affirm” with the school, an agreement to both service after graduation and pay back any tuition costs if they don’t graduate. If Carter went back on his affirmation, that means both not graduating after such rigorous work for nearly four years and an expensive bill to pay back.
Last Thursday, as Carter’s parents were traveling from their Houston-area home to the Army-Navy game, they learned about this potential change on Twitter. They were blindsided when reading the Military Times report on the contents of the bill. Their son’s plans to enter the draft, play professional football and later serve in the military had potentially been upended.
“Here’s the thing that’s so painful,” Melissa Carter told ESPN. “You guide your son to do the right things because it’s right. And it’s really disappointing that it’s not reciprocated. This has been his goal since childhood, to go into the NFL. Every step of the way, that was on track, until we saw this article. That’s the part that’s disappointing. It’s not surprising to see so many people transfer, opt out or switch teams. When loyalty is not reciprocated, that stings.”
Army coach Jeff Monken didn’t find out about the potential rule change until after the Army-Navy game on Saturday.
“It’s just kind of pulling the rug out from under him,” Monken told ESPN. “It’s not fair. It’s not fair to him. He was loyal to this team and institution. He could have left and he didn’t. He still wants to serve. It’s not that he doesn’t want to serve. He wants to pursue the NFL and play, and then serve.
“I’m 100% against it.”
Melissa Carter said it’s her “understanding” that her son would have to do two years of military service if the bill gets passed as written. (Army officials explained that after two years of active service, a graduate can apply for an alternative service option.) Melissa Carter said the bill’s passage is likely going to force her son to choose between two goals — graduating from the United States Military Academy or playing professional football. The family doesn’t have animosity toward Army or the coaches, but more the political whims that have left their son at a crossroads.
The family is scrambling to see what can be done. If Carter does go No. 22, he’d get a contract for roughly $15 million. While he’s projected in the first round in some mocks, some scouts believe he’s more of a second-round pick. Regardless of the potential payout, the family says there’s a lack of fairness that the rules would suddenly change days before their son played his final regular season game. If the rules had been different, his path likely would have been different. The Carters asked about the rules frequently during their son’s final two years.
Monken wonders whether, at a minimum, the policy can be altered to allow those who entered the academy after the bill was passed in 2019 to be grandfathered in under the rules they believed to be in place when they decided to go to the Academy. While he’s strongly in favor of keeping the rules that allow deferring military duty, he’s hopeful something can be done in the short term for Carter and those who entered an academy thinking they could pursue professional sports and defer their military duty.
“It doesn’t matter who set the policy in place,” Monken said. “We should do what’s right.”
There are four Army graduates in the NFL right now — Cole Christiansen (Chiefs), Brett Toth (Eagles), Elijah Riley (Steelers) and Jon Rhattigan (Seahawks). West Point is a crucial part of the story they tell. Monken doesn’t understand why Army graduates who train for the Olympics through the World Class Athlete program are celebrated and those who choose to delay service for professional football are blocked.
“We’re so proud of these guys and how they represent West Point,” Monken said.
Andre Carter II declined to speak to ESPN for the story. But his family made his emotions clear.
“He’s so upset,” his father, Andre, said. “He was literally, visually upset because of the uncertainty. He was not happy. When you’re in the military, everything is precise. To have something at the 11th hour kind of thrown out there when you are so used to having a regiment. He’s in a fog about the whole thing.”