Caleb Campbell -- No longer allowed to play.

I bet a bunch of you that watched the draft remember this guy. He's the guy from the Army Academy that was drafted by the Lions and allowed to pursue his NFL career. One day before training camp, the Army pulled the rug out from under him and told him he had to report to active duty. Caleb Campbell even checked on this one week ago to make sure everything was good to go.

In my opinion, this is a bad move by the Army. Had you told him from day 1 that he has to serve -- I'm fine with that. But certainly don't wait till a day before training camp. That's just mean.

Campbell is handling it with a lot of class though. Here's a link.

ESPN - Army changes mind, says Campbell can't play in NFL until 2010 - NFL (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3502211)

There is always a way out, but he seems to be a bigger man than that. I am suprised that the Army did not "grandfather clause" him into the old regulation. Oh well, hopefully he stays alive and gets another shot in 2 years.

Its not very fair to the Lions either. They blow a draft pick on a guy they've been told can play if he makes the team, then that gets stripped away.

Its not very fair to the Lions either. They blow a draft pick on a guy they've been told can play if he makes the team, then that gets stripped away.


Possible compensatory next year? More than likely not. Did we get anying to compensate us for Sean? Will we? Similar situation where a team loses a player to non football related circumstances. Maybe this should be discussed by the league to compensate teams for these type of losses as well.

I think the problem came up that others wanted to do something similar to this so they just said no to all. ITs a shame that he got so far only to have it reversed. I think there was a basket ball player that was told no he had to do his service first and this could have been what caused the Army to review its policy. It seem that all parties feel bad for him and his situation.

This is a rediculous, asinine move by the Army. When he was drafted, there was a standing ovation and great stories reported on ESPN and other outlets. The potential positive PR from this is way, way, way more beneficial to the Army then sticking another 2LT in Iraq.

I think the policy was flawed in that it had to be opened to all athletes; hence, if a player made the professional badmitton tour then they could use the clause to get out of their active duty committment.

It was a good idea, because it allows athletes that are highly rated to consider the military academy as an option. As it stands now, anyone with even a long, longshot at the NFL would not consider the academy. Plus, the way the policy was stated, Campbell wasn't just getting out scott-free, he had to do recruiting details for several years, which could have had a great benefit to the Army. Imagine an NFL safety coming to your high school and pumping up the Army - great recruiting tool.

I think the way to fix the loophole would be to mandate that anyone that uses the "clause" to get out early for athletic reasons has to pay back the value of their education (valued at around $250K). This will keep it so that only the NFL/NBA/MLB types can afford to do so (and it will be very, very rare at that). The fact that they retro-actively screwed Campbell (and the Lions) is absolutely rediculous and pisses me off to no end. It's simply a case of the Army reacting to public outcry by a bunch of idiots who don't have a clue. It's what the Army does best...

Sorry to play devils advocate. But you have to look at it from another perspective to understand this one.

Campbell went to college on the tax payers dime. The scholarships he was awarded paid for everything in college from housing to meals to tuition and books. And he also got a paycheck every month while in the program.

These scholarship programs can easily exceed 165,000 dollars. Campbell agreed to this WAY before the Lions came calling. I agree that Campbell is handling this with a lot of class.

But look at it this way, what if your congressmen misused government funds to the tune of 165,000? Would you want him to get a free ride?

The Army is simply protecting the investment made by you and me (the taxpayer).

Sorry to play devils advocate. But you have to look at it from another perspective to understand this one.

Campbell went to college on the tax payers dime. The scholarships he was awarded paid for everything in college from housing to meals to tuition and books. And he also got a paycheck every month while in the program.

These scholarship programs can easily exceed 165,000 dollars. Campbell agreed to this WAY before the Lions came calling. I agree that Campbell is handling this with a lot of class.

But look at it this way, what if your congressmen misused government funds to the tune of 165,000? Would you want him to get a free ride?

The Army is simply protecting the investment made by you and me (the taxpayer).

From what I understand, Congressmen get paid about $165,000 per year. So, I would say our Congressmen misuse that kind of money every year, and they always get a free ride.

But, I like AJFC's idea: make them pay back the cost.

Sorry to play devils advocate. But you have to look at it from another perspective to understand this one.

Campbell went to college on the tax payers dime. The scholarships he was awarded paid for everything in college from housing to meals to tuition and books. And he also got a paycheck every month while in the program.

These scholarship programs can easily exceed 165,000 dollars. Campbell agreed to this WAY before the Lions came calling. I agree that Campbell is handling this with a lot of class.

But look at it this way, what if your congressmen misused government funds to the tune of 165,000? Would you want him to get a free ride?

The Army is simply protecting the investment made by you and me (the taxpayer).

As it previously read, the "out clause" still required Campbell to serve in the reserves and perform recruiting duties - so he's not "stealing" $165K as you alleged. IMO, an NFL player performing recruiting duties is VERY VALUABLE to the Army and the PR associated with it easily outweighs the money invested in him. $165K is like a 30 second commercial on TV. IMO, it's all about understanding the bigger picture for the Army.

Some things supercede football, gentlemen. Our armed forces need all the help they can get. The timing is unfortunate for Caleb and the Lions, but I'm not exactly crying for the Lions losing a pick in the draft when Campbell will be heading to active duty with an opportunity to contribute to our cause and possibly save the lives of his fellow soldiers at some point.

Some things are just more important than football.