FanHouse CalebCampbell

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 8 of 10 (read chapter 7 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

It's a little more than two weeks until the NFL Combine and Kurt Hester remains furious with our forty starts.

"Y'all are starting like a bunch of p*****s," he says, "They're f**king horrible."

So horrible, in fact, that for our morning workout Hester has been forced to dig into his massive collection of workout supplies, stored in large plastic blue bins. Desperation has driven Hester to pull out Velcro belts that he can fasten to our waists. In Hester's terminology these are called pop belts.

"They don't even make these anymore," says Hester as he distributes the pop belts to us. "I had to break them out of the bottom of the bins because y'all just weren't listening to me about getting good first steps."

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 6 of 10 installments (read Part 5 here) that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

None of those stresses of the guys I'm training with compares to Army's Caleb Campbell (right), a 6'2" 229 pound safety from Perryton, Texas. His future plans are extraordinarily simple: either he's drafted by an NFL team or he's likely shipped to Iraq as a 2nd Lieutenant. Campbell doesn't announce this to the rest of the guys he's training with. Instead he confides it to me one afternoon as I review his NFL Combine questionnaire. One minute we're talking about Wolf from the new American Gladiators television show, and the next moment Campbell unburdens himself. "I need this Bookman," Campbell says, "or else my ass is headed to Iraq."

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In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 4 of 10 installments (read Part 3 here) that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

As the days dwindle for Michael Oher (right) to decide whether to leave school early or return to Ole Miss, we end another workout and gather in front of the television. The Program, the 1993 college football movie starring Omar Epps, Halle Berry, and Craig Sheffer, as quarterback Joe Cane, is on the television.

For the first time I feel old since most of these guys were in first or second grade in 1993, when the movie came out. In fact, the majority of the guys haven't ever seen the movie before. As we watch, in one scene the starting quarterback, Joe Cane, complains because his father has never come to see him play a football game. Sitting in a large red chair to the left of the television, Big Mike Oher reacts. "Never come to see him play a football game?" asks Oher, scoffing. "I've only seen my own dad about four times."

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 2 of 10 installments (read Part 1 here) that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

The night before the first day of combine training, I can't sleep. It's Sunday January 6, and all of the college players are being picked up at the airport and brought to their apartments. By now I know a couple of their names, Frank Okam (far right) defensive tackle from Texas, Caleb Campbell safety from Army, and a few other vague designations, a tight end from Cal, a linebacker from Illinois. Late at night, unable to sleep, I climb out of bed and go downstairs to the computer where I spend over an hour scanning through player rosters and player bios.

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Sports talk and message boards have been abuzz about the Army reversing their decision to let West Point graduate, Caleb Campbell play safety for the Detroit Lions. The Detroit News "Behind the Scenes" columnists contend that it was pressure from the service academies that caused this change:

The feeling at the United States Military Academy in West Point is that higherups and other branches of the service -- the Navy, in particular -- were jealous of the favorable publicity Campbell has generated for the Army since the Lions drafted him on the seventh round in April.
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Campbell, who graduated from West Point on May 31, was eligible to play pro football under the "alternative service option" available to graduates of the service academies. The Navy and Air Force required two years of active duty before exercising the option. The Army allowed it immediately after graduation.

The Dept. of Defense has ordered the Army to comply with the policy as implemented by the Navy and Air Force.

So Navy wants to be able to keep beating Army and that's why they changed the policy? Maybe if Campbell went to the Washington Redskins instead of the Detroit Lions, maybe the Washington-based DoD people would have held off in making this policy change.

It was one of the most interesting stories around the NFL draft -- Army safety Caleb Campbell taking advantage of a new rule which would allow him to defer his service in order to play football. When the Lions drafted him in the seventh round, he got a standing ovation.

Much talk ensued about whether or not Campbell should be allowed what some considered privileged status while his classmates were going to have to serve as usual, but it's all moot now; the Army has rescinded the opportunity, and Campbell must temporarily forfeit his dream.

Campbell will have to fulfill his service to the Army, and may apply for a release, freeing him for a career in football, in May 2010. There is yet to be an explanation or statement regarding the change in policy, but I hope this part of the story doesn't fade away. Regardless of your political leanings, the Army received a lot of good publicity for allowing Campbell to play, and at the very least they should face equal attention while being forthright about why they've apparently changed their minds on the eve of his first training camp.

In the seventh round of last month's NFL draft, the Detroit Lions selected Caleb Campbell, a safety who played college football at Army. And thanks to a new U.S. military policy, Campbell will get to play in the NFL, assuming he makes the Lions' roster, while his West Point classmates have to serve active duty, many of them in Iraq.

In a profile in the Boston Globe, Campbell talks about the harsh criticism he has faced from people who think he's doing the wrong thing by going to the NFL instead of serving on active duty:

"The worst was a handwritten letter," says Campbell, a native of Perryton, Texas. "It said, 'Please don't do this. How can you look your classmates in the eyes when they are serving their country and going to Iraq and you're taking the easier way out?' That hit me . . . But I'd be a fool not to take advantage of this opportunity."

I disagree with anyone who suggests that Campbell shouldn't be able to look his classmates in the eye. But I also disagree with Campbell when he says he'd be a fool not to take the opportunity. By that rationale, Pat Tillman is a fool. I certainly hope Campbell isn't suggesting that.

The bottom line, though, is that the Army decided to make this choice available to Campbell. How many people wouldn't do what he's doing if they were in his shoes?

Detroit Lions 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (17): Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College
Round 2 (45): Jordan Dizon, OLB, Colorado
Round 3 (64): Kevin Smith, RB, Central Florida
Round 3 (87): Andre Fluellen, DT, Florida St.
Round 3 (92): Cliff Avril, OLB, Purdue
Round 5 (136): Kenneth Moore, WR, Wake Forest
Round 5 (146): Jerome Felton, FB, Furman
Round 7 (216): Landon Cohen, DE, Ohio
Round 7 (218): Caleb Campbell, S, Army

The Good: I don't care what anyone thinks, I like the Cherilus pick. Most wanted a running back in that spot, but the Lions needed one of those first-round tackles and the only other viable option, Jeff Otah, is overrated to me. And the Lions got a very good running back anyway in Smith, who never got the recognition he deserved while being incredibly productive in college. He's the perfect big back for the Lions' new zone scheme and will surprise people with his NFL-ready talent.

The divisive story of Campbell is feel-good to some and has been good fodder for talk radio today, but forget about that. He's simply a very good player. He's smart, talented, and has the personality Rod Marinelli likes. Campbell will begin his career as a special teams demon but with steady development can get time in the secondary either this year or next.