Column: Navy is more than just football

In a sport best known for its pageantry and beauty, team entries to the field have become a sacred tradition for college football programs around the country.

Clemson has the rubbing of Howard’s Rock and the run down “The Hill.” Virginia Tech spills out onto the turf at Lane Stadium to the tune of Metallica’s thunderous “Enter Sandman.” Michigan’s players storm the field with each leaping to touch the “Go Blue” banner presented by the school’s alumni.

Each of those traditions is revered, but none match Navy’s simple, yet mystifying entrance.

The P.A. system at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium doesn’t blare any bone-rattling music. The Midshipmen don’t take turns touching an inanimate object.

Instead, they run through a human tunnel of fellow cadets while the lead man proudly carries an oversized American flag. It’s a scene that should produce a profound sense of pride and honor in every American fortunate enough to bear witness to the occasion.

Hoosier fans making the trek to Annapolis, Md. to watch IU Coach Kevin Wilson’s squad take on the Midshipmen will catch more than a glimpse of what playing the United States Naval Academy truly means.

Yes, Navy may just be another opponent on the schedule for the Hoosiers, but the matchup carries with it an added sense of significance that transcends sports.

While Wilson’s players have dreams of playing in the NFL, Navy’s players have dreams of serving our country. How many 18 to 22-year-old men do you know who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?

I know two here at IU, and I’ll never be able to fully express my respect and gratitude for the choice that they’ve made.

Jim Nantz of CBS Sports, in collaboration with Showtime, produced a documentary surrounding the aura of the football program at Navy. In the film, Nantz puts the lives of Navy’s players in a perfectly rigid perspective.

“These future officers are aware that graduation means facing the likely possibility of active duty in combat,” Nantz said in the documentary. “It puts football in a whole different perspective.”

Unlike the overwhelming majority of the nation’s college programs, football isn’t everything for the Midshipmen of Navy.

It’s not a stepping stone to a career playing the game for the Midshipmen. Rather, it’s an integral teaching tool that prepares those young men for life after they hang up their shoulder pads and helmets after four years at the academy.

“What the United States Naval Academy stands for is the moral mission of this school,” head coach Ken Niumatalolo stated during the documentary. “It’s about developing leaders for our country.”

What Niumatalolo points out is what makes playing Navy such a fascinating experience. The Hoosiers won’t be playing against another group of normal college student athletes. They’ll be playing against a group of young men who will soon stand on the frontline defending the freedom we are able to enjoy each day.

So if you’re in attendance at Saturday’s game, take the time to say thank you to these young men.

I know I will.

It’s the least they deserve.

­— ckillore@indiana.edu