Andre Carter II, a rare football player from one of the military academies with legitimate first-round NFL Draft pick potential, could lose his eligibility for 2023 and several years after.
There are hundreds of players who have hopes of being selected by an NFL team in the annual draft each year. However, only a small amount actually can reach that goal. That scenario is even more infrequent when it comes to players competing for military academies like Army, Navy and Air Force.
Those academies are built to train future leaders of the armed forces, not eventual NFL stars. Yet, on occasion, some servicemen are gifted enough to make the leap to the next level. Army Black Knights star linebacker Carter II is a special enough talent that some NFL observers project he could be selected in the first round of next year’s draft.
Unfortunately for Carter II, the government he serves is in the process of installing a new military guideline that would prohibit him from being drafted in 2023 and at least several more years after that.
New bill prohibits Andre Carter II from competing in NFL for at least five years
On Friday, the Military Times reported that members of Congress made an addendum to their annual defense authorization bill that would make players heading to professional sports after academy graduation “a breach of agreement to serve as an officer.”
In 2019, former President Donald Trump pushed through a rule that would allow cadets to file for a waiver that would allow them to push back their service obligations so they could play professional sports. However, current House leaders are looking to put that to a stop, and the new guidelines could be signed into law by President Joseph Biden soon after passing through the Senate on Thursday.
“The cadet may not obtain employment, including as a professional athlete, until after completing the cadet’s commissioned service obligation.”
– New guidelines for miltary cadets with pro sports aspirations (via ESPN)
For members of the Army like Carter II, their obligations to the service include five years of active duty and three years in the individual ready reserve. If the bill is signed by President Biden, it would go into effect imeditately, and ESPN reported that he would not be able to receive a “legacy exception” since the new rule comes near the end of his time in the academy.
Carter II had the possibility to earn a waiver and enter the NFL Draft in previous seasons, but he remained at the academy two more seasons out of loyalty to the Army.
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