President wants to restore service academy waiver

Posted by Mike Florio on May 6, 2019, 2:10 PM EDT
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The Trump Administration taketh away, and the Trump Administration possibly giveth.

Via the Associated Press, President Donald Trump said Monday while presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the U.S. Military Academy that he’s considering a waiver that would allow service academy athletes to fulfill their military obligations after their pro careers end.

Two years ago, the Department of Defense rescinded the policy that allowed athletes from the various service academies to pursue professional careers immediately.

The potential change could be good news for the Vikings and long snapper Austin Cutting. The seventh-round pick played at the Air Force Academy, and he could be available to play for the Vikings this year, if the policy changes.

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12 responses to “President wants to restore service academy waiver”

  1. Or you could not commit to the service if you are just gonna change your mind

  2. Great idea. Playing a professional sport instead of honoring your service agreement sets a great example for the other cadets.

    What they need are waivers for bone spurs, the kind you pay top dollar for the diagnosis.

  4. Sorry but tax payers are paying for those kids to be there and what happened to service being the most important thing?

  5. The draft dodger is just trying to add the military to his base and could careless about the players….another dog whistle. That being said let the player play and do his committed time when his playing days are done or pay for the cost of his education.

  6. I’m a veteran. I have no problems with this and I didn’t vote for Trump. Not every kid is going to be David Robinson or Roger Staubach, especially in this age of specialized athletes. A deferred military obligation still commits the athletes to eventually serving. It may even give many athletes a more rounded world view.

  7. The chance at a pro career comes and then goes in the blink of an eye for most guys. When their pro career ends they will still be able to serve their country in some capacity as it will probably be before the age of 35 in most cases.

  8. says the draft dodger. You can be on the Left or the Right.. doesn’t matter. This guy is a chump and if the American people can’t see he is pulling the wool over our eyes than we get what we deserve.

  9. The chance at a pro career comes and then goes in the blink of an eye for most guys. When their pro career ends they will still be able to serve their country in some capacity as it will probably be before the age of 35 in most cases.

    =========================

    Or have bad knees, bad feet, shoulder injuries etc… and not be able to serve at all. Not trying to make life more difficult for these guys and gals but if you don’t serve right away you probably aren’t going to at all.. for one reason or another.

  10. It is not a matter of “don’t commit” or “wasting tax payer’s money.” I’ve heard of instances where servicemen “accidentally” shooting themselves in order to get out of the service. I know a person who intentionally gained a ton of weight so he would be discharged. I suppose live would be great if every single one of us made a decision and went with it no matter what. But that’s not the reality.

  12. I’ve been in the Army for 19 years and I don’t understand why they need to serve after their career is over. Kevin Greene served for 16 years in the offseason and still ended up 3rd all-time on the sacks list. The only reason he didn’t serve a full 20 years is because he didn’t want a pension with all the money he made during his NFL career. He wanted his service to stand by itself and not take anything he didn’t need from the country he loved. There’s so many ways to serve that don’t have anything to do with combat and deployments. They can visit injured service members, assist recruiting efforts, go on MWR and USO tours, inspire young service members and just generally set a good example for America’s youth. The DoD should be putting these guys up on a pedestal, unfortunately, they have always had a hard time getting out of their own way.

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