The Heroes
of ThanksMore Than a Game
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The reputation and bragging rights of your entire Armed Service is on the line. The emotions involved, especially for firsties (seniors at West Point) are unreal. It definitely places as one of the top three experiences of any player's life (assuming they get married and have kids).
Greg Cotton, Army Black Knights -
Tradition. This game has been played for over 100 years, and the rivalry is like none other. You have two teams who are not just representing their respective schools, but an entire military force. We are representing for our entire nation.
Osei Asante, Navy Midshipmen -
The people playing it choose to serve their nation instead of glory.
Kelechi Odocha, Army Black Knights -
Watching it in the past, the players know that they are playing against one of their own, their brothers in service, if you will. They have been through the same situations and maintain the same routine day in and day out and still push themselves to play the highest level of football possible.
Keegan Wetzel, Navy Midshipmen -
It's the one game that is played representing all of those who have served our great nation in military service. We get to play against our future brothers in arms and regardless of who wins, America comes out victorious. Everyone in America can relate to one team or the other and feel some kind of emotional draw to the game. It's easy to see and feel how this game is special compared to any other.
Bradley Marren, Army Black Knights -
On the field, we're rivals. But once we take the pads off, we're brothers.
Travis Keating, Navy Midshipmen -
Army-Navy is unique because of the atmosphere and pageantry of the game. Not only are you are on the national stage, but you are playing in the city that our independence was declared in 1776. The players in the game do not play the game for the potential of going professional, they play with pride and passion knowing that that will one day defend the nation they love.
Kenric Lull, Army Black Knights -
Win, lose or draw, we are all going to be fighting side-by-side against enemies both foreign and domestic after our football years are over.
Austin Milke, Navy Midshipmen -
The history of the two teams is vast. The people who both teams are connected with are what make this rivalry amazing. Some of the same people who wore our uniforms, such as General Eisenhower, later led our country into war as 5-star generals. The fact that the two teams are enemies for 60 minutes and immediately after are brothers set to defeat those who threaten our freedom is unique in and of itself.
Joe Bailey, Army Black Knights -
The Army-Navy game is different from any other game because of what it represents. Each respective Academy not only represents themselves, but the branch of service in which they will become commissioned officers in. This game is rich in tradition because it has brought Army and Navy together in competition for over a hundred years. So, as Army and Navy take the field to play, they honor their brothers who have gone before them and their brothers to come.
Damon Pescaia, Navy Midshipmen -
It's the last game for the seniors; there are no NFL dreams or football glory after that game. It's the last opportunity to be a collegiate athlete and play the game we love with teammates who have become as close as brothers.
Jason Johnson, Army Black Knights -
It's a game about pride, tradition and age-old rivalry. Both teams have similar day-to-day lives at their respective academies, so we know how hard it is to maintain being a football player. The game is bigger than just the players on the field. We represent ourselves, our families, our academies, our branches of service and most of all, we represent our country. The feeling of playing in the game can't be described with words.
Le'Andre Calloway, Navy Midshipmen -
I think the one thing that sets the Army/Navy game apart from other rivalries is who both teams represent. The men and women from each respective military branch root for their team and the players that represent them. It's about being proud of what you represent and what you're a part of. The game means so much more than football.
CeDarius Williams, Army Black Knights -
It's the purest rivalry in college football where the teams playing against each other will soon be serving next to each other.
Jeff Lenar, Navy Midshipmen -
The fact that off the field we are brothers in arms, but for those 60 minutes, there's nothing we want to do more than beat each other.
Seth Reed, Army Black Knights -
The history behind it. Knowing that a lot of special people and players have fought in this rivalry game. Knowing that there are guys in combat zones that wish they could be on that same field with us and that there are guys that have died in combat zones that have been on that same field.
Brian Blick, Navy Midshipmen -
The fact that within the next four years, these will be our brothers in arms and the intense rivalry on the football field will become a brotherhood where we will fight alongside each other.
Will Holder, Army Black Knights -
What makes this game different than any other rivalry game in the nation is that this game not only represents two schools, but also two branches of our armed forces, and this games provides a lot of morale to those stationed overseas and at home.
Eric Douglass, Navy Midshipmen -
The Army-Navy game is different from any other game because people all over the world are watching. The people that stand up for our country, and the people that love those that stand up for our country watch this game every year. There are few greater honors.
Karl Thompson, Army Black Knights -
It's like two brothers going to war. We have the ultimate love and respect for each other because we know what we are going to be called upon to do after graduation, but for that hour of playing time on the gridiron, it's war and we just want to win and be the tougher brother.
Jerad Feher, Navy Midshipmen -
It goes beyond just a game. The men and women represented by the two teams are why we as a nation can even enjoy watching football on Saturday. As a player, it steps further as you look back and see the great men who have played in this game in the years past. Putting on that same jersey as they did is an honor and privilege.
Ross Pospisiil, Navy Midshipmen -
It is special because of the pageantry and what it means to be a service academy football player; you know that in a short time, your football career will be over and you will be defending the country.
Matthew Couch, Navy Midshipmen -
Of course the history, tradition, and pageantry. But also the fact that the military is divided for one day between sailors and soldiers.
Byre French, Navy Midshipmen -
The rivalry, the passion, just knowing that one win can and will boost the morale of many of our fellow brothers and sisters fighting the good fight overseas.
Kingsley Ehie, Army Black Knights -
What and who you represent, you represent soldiers past and present in the armed forces.
Victor Ugenyi, Army Black Knights -
Army and Navy are the last of a dying breed. Both teams play the game for the reasons it was meant to be played. We get after each other harder than any other team or any other rivalry in the nation, and after it's all over we're all brothers.
Billy Yarborough, Navy Midshipmen -
We spend 60 minutes battling a team that we eventually will be fighting alongside with in the U.S. military. It is a great American tradition that represents the wonderful freedom which we endure while living in this great nation.
John Cabbage, Navy Midshipmen -
As Admiral Fowler says "we are the face of the Navy" and with us and Army combined, we're the face of the nation. There's incredible tradition and hype surrounding the game. We each have great respect for each other as opponents, yet "Beat Army" is ingrained into what we do from day one.
Jake Juriga, Navy Midshipmen

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