Rick Reilly Still Confused About Why Someone Would Go To the School "Army"

I wrote an entire post about a Dustin Pedroia article to avoid dissecting Reilly. Here is the link to the article. Now imagine me saying he needs to get his ass kicked after every bold paragraph. My post sucked, even by my own low standards. Though it did have a link that said "Pedroia's biggest asset: his mouth" that really could have turned this from a R rated site to an X rated site if I had made any jokes about it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3512455

Back to Reilly, who can't seem to grasp the idea of an athlete going to Army to play football and be a soldier and not play in the NFL. I imagine little Rick Reilly playing with his G.I. Joe's bitching that Hawkeye would have been a great third basemen if he did not have to join the Army.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3520706

There are times when a good man gets screwed and yet can't say a word, which leaves it for somebody else to stand on an orange crate and say, "Hey! This stinks!"
Such is the case with 2nd Lieutenant Caleb Campbell, U.S. Army.

And Rick Reilly will do the standing up for him. Almost one month after the "screwing" occurred. Way to be topical Rick. I guess he had to get his column about how people want his autograph, crazy national anthem meanings and Charles Barkley's swing out of the way because they were way more important.

Why is the crate you stand on orange? You are bizarre.

Also look for quotes from 2nd Lt. Caleb Campbell bemoaning his situation in this article. You won't find any. So I guess no one really needs to stand up for him, but hey, Reilly takes the bullet anyway. I would want Reilly on my police force anyday. He would be the one providing you back up on petty theft and vandalism calls. Who cares if you don't need it? He was there for you man!

2nd Lt. Campbell was a surprisingly fine safety for Army the past four years.

Why was this surprising? Did he have some physical defect that prevented him from being a good football player but somehow allowed him to join the Army and a cadet at West Point?

The Lions picked him because the Army assured the NFL it had a policy allowing cadets with "exceptional skills" to delay military service and go pro as a way of pumping up recruiting.

The Lions probably thought he was a wide receiver! Haha, I am making fun of the Lions choosing Wide Receivers in the draft. They are stupid, those silly Lions.

So the tiny town of Perryton, Texas, threw Campbell a big party in the church basement the day before he left for training camp since, not only was he the first local kid to go to West Point, he was the first one ever drafted.

"This small town kid whose entire life dream had been to play in the NFL, so he attended the most obvious college for this, Army, had his dream shattered as he partied in a house of God. Not only has the Army policy let down Caleb Campell, the Lions, and Perryton Texas, but God himself. They will be smite for this."

That is what Reilly meant to write. Way to let God down Army.

Campbell flew to Detroit and got his jersey (number 47, in honor of All-Pro safety John Lynch) and a locker with his nameplate on it and his playbook.

I guess the Army policy let down God and now John Lynch is not being honored. Thanks policy, you asshole.

Campbell was a 7th round pick, which is one round away from being completely undrafted, so I really doubt he had a locker with a name plate on it, because he had a 50% chance of making the team as it is, and everyone gets a playbook, so that is no huge deal. Reilly is building the drama though. What happens next?

And then, the day before camp began, Lions GM Matt Millen called Campbell and his playbook into his office and told him it was all over. The Army was rescinding the policy. Campbell had to report immediately.

Arghhh............Those bastards! I did not see that coming. I think it was all a cover up and Matt Millen found out he was not a Wide Receiver and cut him. The Army needs more soldiers so they covered for Matt Millen and Campbell is the big loser in this. I can't believe a football player who attended Army got blindsided by this. Shocking.

Turns out the Army had no business having such a policy. Turns out the Department of Defense insists any service academy athlete who's drafted serve at least two years immediately after graduation, skills or no skills.

Wouldn't you think at some point, some columnist or researcher somewhere before the draft, while the 10,000 articles written about Campbell would have found this out? It takes one call to the Department of Defense and they could have found this out. It's almost like most columnists don't do any research before they write a column.

2nd Lt. Campbell felt like he was hit in the nose with a shovel.

He never publicly or privately said this. You are lying. Whereas most columnists use quotes that help describe what a person thinks, Rick Reilly can read minds.

Campbell said this, "I went to the academy to be a soldier."

I can tell he is obviously pissed off though.

Instead the Army lied to 2nd Lt. Caleb Campbell. Now he gets to tolerate it.

I feel for Caleb Campbell, I really do. This sucks for him because he probably wanted a chance to be a professional football player.

But, he attended a school called Army and it is located at West Point. He was a 7th round draft pick and went to school with thousands of other students who were all going to serve their country after they graduated. I am assuming he had a good idea he may get cut from whatever football team drafted him, if he got drafted, and may have to serve his country. Don't make him a martyr for some cause that does not exist because you have nothing to write about.

First, he cried, but then he bucked up.

He cried? I think this is a lie, I don't believe you.

He didn't sue or punch a wall

He did not sue because he went to a college called Army where it is pretty much accepted you are going to join the service after you left and did not punch a wall because he is over the age of 19.

or ask questions you or I would've asked such as, "The Army revised the policy on July 8. Why did it take until July 23, the night before camp started, to tell me?"

I would not have asked this question if I went to a school where 99.9% of the attendees are soldiers.

The only question I really have is what took Rick Reilly two weeks to write this column if it was such an injustice?

I hate it when columnists take up a cause for someone when that person does not seem to really care and don't consider it an injustice. It reminds me of the South Park episode where the teacher had a dead fetus on the side of her head and everyone had a parade and a special day for her but she really did not consider it a disability and was offended by the fact they singled her out. Caleb Campbell is like someone with a dead fetus on his head, so just stop now Reilly.

All Campbell did was throw his shoulders back and say, "I went to the academy to be a soldier."

See? This should be the end of the column but Reilly has to get his weekly 500 words in.

But here's what stinks. Campbell did go to West Point to lead men into battle, but then he found out he was good enough to play on Sundays.

Maybe Campbell was smart enough to realize it is good to have something to fall back in if the whole football thing did not work out. I call that smart and think it was a good move to stay where he was.

Do you think Campbell went to West Point to be a pro football player or a soldier? I think that one has an obvious answer and may explain why he did not transfer.

At the end of his sophomore season, he could've transferred out, without penalty, to a big-time football college like Oklahoma or Michigan.

Call me a cynic but I say he did not have transfer opportunities that would have allowed him to start at safety for Oklahoma or Michigan. That sounds like a big jump from starting for Army. Starting for those teams are the only real way he could have made the NFL. You don't see many backup safeties in their senior year on Michigan or Oklahoma making the NFL.

"I never thought (my football career) would end this way," Campbell says. "I thought it would be a knee. Or I'd get cut. My dream was to play in the NFL.

So he is disappointed, that is to be expected. I do feel bad for him.

But my other dream was to be an officer in the greatest army in the world. Now I'm down to the best of one world, I guess.

His "other dream was to be an officer in the greatest army in the world?" He is devastated! The Army has ruined his life! I bet he won't be able to go on.

I'm a soldier and I'm going to see the task through."

He sounds like he is a ruined man right now. Thank God Rick Reilly is on his side.

And what task is that, you ask? Serving as an assistant coach for Army's football team this season, followed by reassignment, perhaps to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Holy shit! So he gets to be around football and practice with the Army team a little bit, then he has to go chase his other dream and be a soldier? The worst of all worlds, this is horrific. Somebody page somebody important to stop this mess. I'm calling Brett Favre, he will want to know about this ASAP.

Which brings up another question Campbell won't ask: "How is coaching football in West Point any more valuable to the war effort than playing it in Detroit?"

He won't ask this question because he knew this was a possibility from the beginning. I am repeating myself now. I am repeating myself now.

"Lt. Campbell is the kind of leader our soldiers deserve," an Army spokesman said.

100% agreed. This was a messed up policy reversal that should not have happened but Campbell is a noble man who accepts this reversal. He got screwed over by a policy matter but fortunately he also wanted to be a soldier. That may be why he went to West Point in the first place.

The question is: Does the Army deserve 2nd Lt. Campbell?

Counterpoint bitch! Great argument Reilly and way to turn it around on them.

Rick Reilly is the type of columnist ESPN deserves.

Does the public deserve to have to read Rick Reilly?

Love the column, hate the column, got a better idea? Go here.

Don't make up quotes athletes make and try to read their minds.

Want more Life of Reilly? Then check out the archive.

Want to read more columns like this? Look in the trash can because that is where most stories that cause issues where there are none with made up quotes go.