Getty Image / Rich Graessle
Congress has a reputation of never being able to agree on anything. That may explain why their approval rating, according to RealClearPolitics, sits at 27%.
And, it may not come to mind at first, but Congress actually does set a lot of the policies for the athletics of service academies. Theoretically, the head coach of the football teams at Army and Navy are some of the highest-paid government employees, though the salaries are technically paid by private donations.
One of the policies they set regarding the athletics of the academies is whether athletes can defer their service to play professional sports. This is controversial, though lately the rule has been that they could apply to have their mandatory service deferred.
But, that was set to change last week, when a funding bill last week that passed the United State Senate would have closed the path to playing pro sports.
But, due to outcry, that is going to change. And, it’s going to help out one player in particular.
Congress is set to pass a provision in law that will allow service academy athletes to play pro sports
A lot of people were upset when they found out that Andre Carter II, Army’s excellent pass rusher, would not be able to immediately play in the NFL due to this bill.
But, that changed Tuesday morning as Congress worked together in a bipartisan fashion.
Our ESPN story on how Washington rallied in rare fashion to alter bill language to clear Army star Andre Carter’s path to the NFL Draft. “The goodness we saw in people this past week will forever be imprinted upon us." https://t.co/dCFnrmEzjy
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 20, 2022
The article said, in part:
New language formally filed Tuesday morning in a piece of end-of-year legislation will restore the opportunity for Carter and other current academy upperclassmen at Army, Navy and Air Force to defer military service to pursue professional sports.
A provision has been included by Congress in the omnibus appropriations measure, expected to pass this week, to make Carter and other current academy upperclassmen eligible for a waiver that will allow for a legacy exception for a 2019 ruling that allowed deferred service to play pro sports. This provision appeared on the Senate appropriations website Tuesday morning.
A bill that passed the Senate last week would revoke that 2019 ruling. Carter, who is projected by ESPN’s Mel Kiper as the No. 22 pick in next year’s NFL draft, finished the final regular-season game of his career on Dec. 10. The amended language that emerged Tuesday morning reads that the recently passed amendment “shall only apply with respect to a cadet or midshipman who first enrolls in the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, or the United States Air Force Academy on or after June 1, 2021.”
Army’s Andre Carter II is really good
As for Carter, he may be the best draft product you haven’t heard of. The 6-7 265lb pass rusher had 14.5 sacks in 2021 for the Black Knights and got home 3.5 times this year while being double and triple-teamed. He was thought of as a bona fide first-rounder before the draft. And, Mel Kiper still has him going early, as stated above.
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It is key to note that the language in the bill only grandfathers those currently at the academies in to be able to play pro sports. It appears that athletes entering the academies will not be able to defer their service time for pro sports.
Let’s hope that Carter is a great representative for Army West Point and that Congress allows more athletes to take this path.