You’re likely to see a story or two this week about New Orleans Saints reserve Kyle Eckel. His claim to fame? Eckel is a 2005 Naval Academy graduate and fringe NFL player who has somehow made his way to two Super Bowls.
As a Navy product, Eckel’s virtues will be emphasized. He survived four tough years of regimentation designed to train and identify the men and women best equipped to lead our military forces. Our high expectations of service academy grads are justified. After all, as taxpayers, we’re footing the bill for their education.
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Which brings us to the case of current Navy running back, Marcus Curry. The sophomore tested positive for marijuana use in December and was recommended for expulsion by Commandant Capt. Matt Klunder, citing Navy’s “zero tolerance policy” on drug use. But Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler decided Curry should stay.
According to Curry, he was unknowingly handed a cigar laced with marijuana (a blunt). If this explanation had come from an exemplary midshipman it might have been more believable. But Curry has accumulated more than 300 demerits and, according to the Navy Times, three honor code violations.
But the statistics more applicable to the decision might have been Curry’s on the football field. Despite injuries that kept him out of three games and limited him in others, Curry was third on the team in rushing yards (585), and first in yards per carry (7.3) and receiving yards (287). He was their big-play threat.
Navy (10-4) had another stellar season, winning a record seventh straight Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, upsetting Notre Dame, and nearly toppling powerhouse Ohio State. But the question now being debated in Annapolis: Has football become too important?
Putting it bluntly, the Curry decision represents a double standard and should be reconsidered.
