Friday morning at 4:30, King left the hotel and caught the first flight to North Carolina to be with his mother and sister. It wasn't easy to miss Army-Navy his senior year, but there really wasn't a decision to be made. Players and coaches knew King and his father shared a special relationship. Defensive coordinator Buddy Green says he noticed it right away, when he started recruiting King five years ago.
Drexel was an Army veteran himself and had once handed his son a West Point brochure. He was proud, though, when King enrolled in the Naval Academy.
"Army wanted him really badly," Green says. "Air Force wanted him. A lot of people wanted him. We were fortunate to get him."
Not just the football team benefited, but the school did, as well. Last week, King was named chief of staff for the entire brigade, which makes him one of the highest-ranking Mids next spring.
In the 26th company, he was a squad leader. He was assigned to mentor freshmen. One of them is teammate Jabaree Tuani. "We definitely wanted to win this one for him and his father," Tuani said after yesterday's game.
They all did. They talked about it before the game, dedicating yesterday's performance to a teammate who couldn't be there and to a father who always was. They scribbled "18" on their wrists, put a sticker with the initials "DK" on their helmets and then turned in the kind of performance that coaches don't even dare to dream about.
King's defensive unit posted its second straight shutout (the first time in more than 20 years Navy managed that feat). Army had only seven first downs and never even crossed the Mids' 20-yard-line.
As soon as the game ended, Navy's sports information director, Scott Strasemeier, fired off a text message to King back in North Carolina: "That one was for your dad."
King responded: "Thanks so much. My mom and I are rejoicing over the win."
Army-Navy isn't special simply because of the result, the pageantry or even the storied history. It's the symbolism, but mostly, it's the very essence of the participants. Players at the service academies embody the spirit of team better than any other group in any other sport. They win together. And they suffer losses together. Both on the field and off.
"The brotherhood that we preach daily at the Naval Academy ... it's real," Niumatalolo said. "It's alive."
The game is always big, always important. The stakes don't really change, though. On the field and long after graduation, the Mids and cadets always seem to know what counts.
"We played for him today," Deliz said poignantly. "We played for our brother."
