The cornerback that helped Army nearly slay the Michigan giant might someday be – to borrow from the late Bo Schembechler’s beloved phrase — an NFL Man. The League has always been Elijah Riley’s goal, even as he committed to West Point.
Usually, a high school recruit dreaming of the NFL quickly crosses Army, Navy and Air Force off his list like a shallow guy dropping his high school sweetheart for a centerfold. The five-year military commitment upon graduation is a deal-breaker.
But Riley, a 6-foot, 205-pounder from Newfield High on New York’s Long Island, envisioned the best of both worlds: a West Point degree and pro career.
“It’s the opportunity West Point presents,” he said. “I knew that regardless I’d get my shot (at the NFL at some point). I wanted to go somewhere that would maximize me as a person and not just as a football player. It’s a drastic change that I’ve had, but I’ve grown so much here — as a person, as a football player as a leader and as a man. I’m playing at a place that has presented me with opportunities now and in the future.”
As Army’s overtime loss at Michigan unfolded, Fox TV broadcasters Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt highlighted Riley as a rare academy player on the NFL radar. His strip-sack fumble recovery on a blitz of quarterback Shea Patterson emphasized their point. Riley finished with 13 tackles and two sacks against an offense loaded with elite recruits.
But that’s only half the story of Riley’s NFL aspirations – at best.
In 2016, Riley had been a direct-admit – meaning, he didn’t need a year at the Army prep school for West Point admission — and had good reason to believe an NFL opportunity was open to him. Following the 2015 season, academy football players had permission from the Department of Defense to defer their service time and go straight to the NFL.
The rule would have remained quietly in the background, but Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds put together a remarkable 2015 season. He was a third-team All-American pick, he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and the nearby Baltimore Ravens drafted him in the sixth round.
At that time, the President Obama was in office with Ash Carter his Secretary of Defense, but the landscape changed following the 2016 presidential election (and football season). Secretary James Mattis, appointed under President Trump, rescinded the order in May 2017.
The rule flip-flop is an old issue of service vs. pro opportunity. The pendulum’s swing largely has been driven by whoever is in office. Military hard-liners want athletes to promptly serve their country in exchange for the free education they received, while military sports advocates view NFL exposure a player gains as an ambassadorship.
In the summer of 2016, when Riley reported to Beast Barracks – boot camp – prior to his plebe (freshman) year, sentiment had shifted to ambassadors with Obama still in office and Ashcroft Secretary of Defense. But by the end of his first school year it was back to service first under the new administration.
Riley admits he pondered leaving West Point, but his deliberation wasn’t about the rescinded NFL rule. Understand there was an easy out for Riley since cadets have the option of leaving West Point no strings attached during their first two years. However, once cadets report for their junior year, they are obligated to finish the final two years of school and five as an officer.
“I think at one point or another if you don’t think about leaving, this place isn’t challenging enough,” Riley said. “That crosses everybody’s mind that comes here. But the thought is not one that lasts because you know the lasting impact this place will have on you.”
Not even the parallel story of a Navy safety Alohi Gillman gave Riley pause.
That same 2016 season, Navy’s Alohi Gillman enrolled at Navy in Annapolis under also under the impression the NFL was available to him upon graduation. When the rule was rescinded at the end of his first year, he announced within a month he had transferred to Notre Dame.
Gillman had to sit out 2017, according to NCAA transfer rules, and is now a fourth-year junior. He is coming off a strong 2018 season with 95 tackles in 13 starts that already has him on the NFL 2020 draft radar if he left school early.
Did Aloha’s story give Riley regret?
“No, not at all,” he said. “It’s his decision. It’s his life. I’m not living it. He’s doing phenomenal at Notre Dame.”
What about respect? Military men often keep score on who served and where they served.“
“No loss of respect whatsoever,” Riley said.
Riley is not easily distracted and not one to look back, which serves him well as a cornerback. They have to forget getting beat and move on to the next play. That attitude is more than a cliché to Riley, who declined to replay his strip-sack at Michigan that would have gone down in college football lore or if Army had finished the upset of the then-No. 7-ranked team with blue blood in its veins.
“To be honest, I don’t want to talk too much about Michigan,” he said.
Riley explained the Black Knights (1-1) have already moved onto Saturday’s game at UT San Antonio (1-1), a Conference-USA member that beat Incarnate Word (35-7), a Football Championship Subdivision member located in San Antonio, but lost to Baylor, 63-14.
“We’ve forgotten about Michigan already,” Riley said. “It took place, it happened, we lost. Now we’re focused on UTSA. It’s not like we’re going to use Michigan as fuel to do any better. The next opponent is a new face. We’re here to practice like we do every week.”
On the NFL comment from the Fox broadcasters, he said, “That’s cool to hear, but it doesn’t matter. We didn’t win. Going forward we’re trying to win the next one.”
The Black Knights have 10 more regular-season games remaining in a season with goals of not slipping from last year’s 11-2 record, beating Navy, claiming the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and winning a bowl game a fourth straight season.
By the time he graduates, NFL opportunities may be open to him – at least more than now. Trump has flip-flopped on the issue since he hosted Army last spring at the White House for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy presentation. He issued a memorandum on June 26 for a new policy to be developed to allow academy athletes to play professional sports.
For now, though, Riley, is following the chain of command that starts in football season with head coach Jeff Monken.
“Every week we’ll continue play our game,” Riley said. “We’re work hard on fundamentals and focus on phenomenal effort and execution.”
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I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055
Tom Shanahan, Author: Raye of Light http://tinyurl.com/knsqtqu
— Book on Michigan State’s leading role in the integration of college football. It explains Duffy Daugherty’s untold pioneering role and debunks myths that steered recognition away from him to Bear Bryant.
http://shanahan.report/a/the-case-for-duffy-and-medal-of-freedom
Don’t believe the myths at Duffy Daugherty’s expense about Bear Bryant’s motivation to play the 1970 USC-Alabama game or myths about the Charlie Thornhill-for-Joe Namath trade. Bear Bryant knew nothing about black talent in the South while he dragged his feet on segregation.
http://shanahan.report/a/myths-that-grew-out-of-1970-alabama-game-with-usc
http://shanahan.report/a/mystery-solved-in-thornhill-and-namath-myth
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and biographer; “History writes people out of the story. It’s our job to write them back in.”
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