Salute To Service: Malcolm Perry’s Journey From NFL Wide Receiver To The Marines

Perry’s Navy Football Career

Up until Perry’s final season at Annapolis, Perry threw the ball only 25 times in three years. Although he didn’t throw much he was the perfect conductor for the triple option as he was an elite runner at the college level. He ran for over a thousand yards in his sophomore and junior seasons and for over two thousand his final year, while throwing for over a thousand yards to boot. Perry is the second all time rusher in career yards and holds the single season mark for rushing yards.

I can say that as someone who is biased to Navy football, I watched a decent amount of Malcolm Perry. The highlight of his career was the 2019 Army Navy game when he ran for over three hundred yards, leading Navy to their first victory in the historic matchup since 2015. Navy would finish 11-2 that season and cap their season off with a victory over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl. 

He received offensive player of the year honors for the American Athletic Conference and was first team all conference as well. He would finish his college career with 4,354 rushing yards, forty rushing touchdowns, 1,311 passing yards, and ten passing touchdowns (which is a lot for a Midshipman quarterback). 

Department Of Defense Waiver And NFL Career

Perry would go on to be selected by the Miami Dolphins as a receiver in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft and would make the roster for the 2020 season. Perry graduated with the class of 2020 from the Naval Academy but was not commissioned as an officer, as he hoped to be the service academy member to take advantage of the US Department of Defense’s new policy that allows student athletes to pursue professional sports right after they graduate. 

Ultimately the waiver was granted and he was shifted from active duty as a midshipman to a corporal in Marine Individual Ready Reserves. 

He would only be active for nine games during the regular season but would catch a twenty five yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa in the season finale. Perry would then be released the following season after training camp and was quickly scooped up by New England.

Bill Belichick heavily scouted Perry for the draft as he has a deep and personal connection with the Military Academy due to his father being a coach there. Perry landed on injured reserve and was cut by New England only to be signed to the Saints offseason roster.

Perry would eventually find his way back to the Foxboro for the 2022 season. When Perry was placed on the reserve/ futures contract list coach Bill Belichick was supportive of the life decision. Belichick spoke about Malcolm Perry in his press conference on Tuesday morning. 

Malcolm Perry Retires To Become A Marine

“Obviously a big life decision for Malcolm and one that you know I and, as an organization, we have total respect and appreciation for,” Belichick said. “That’s real-life football. There’s real bullets out there, you know? We coach and play a great game. But that game, that’s for all the marbles. Anybody that’s in that arena, we have the ultimate respect for… We had a number of conversations and I have a ton of respect for Malcolm and the decision that he made. I’m sure he’ll be a great teammate and a great Marine and I’m glad he’s on our side, glad he’s defending us and he’s on our side.” 

Malcolm Perry comes from a military background as his wikipedia biography describes his early life as “an army brat”. Both of his parents served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division during the Gulf War. So this decision is not one that is rash or not well thought out. It is a decision that can only be summed up in one word, selfless. 

Malcolm Perry achieved his dreams of playing in the NFL but in the end his decision to serve as a Marine and end his dream is that one word, selfless.