The choice was obvious. Who should lead the Navy football team onto the field inside a packed Ohio Stadium last Saturday afternoon, proudly holding the American flag aloft? Senior Cameron Marshall, of course. The special teams player and third-string defensive end. The 26-year-old former Marine sergeant.
"It's an immense honor," Marshall said. "Holding that flag - it feels like you're holding the country in your hands."
Marshall does not say that lightly. He spent four years in the Marine Corps and served two tours in Iraq before attending the Naval Academy. About 7 percent of the brigade is "prior enlisted," or has already served in the Navy, Marine Corps, Army Reserve or Air National Guard. Marshall is the only one on the football team.
That experience has made him one of the leaders of the Midshipmen (0-1), who host Louisiana Tech on Saturday. For Marshall, football and the military are inextricably tied together. Football prepared him for the Marines. He helps his teammates understand what lies ahead after the academy.
"Some people hesitate and cringe whenever you draw parallels from football to combat," Marshall said. "While I see their point, I think that it's irresponsible not to acknowledge the similarities between them. I think America fights its wars like its football games. We love the tactics; we love big force-on-force battles. ...
"There's certainly a reason why General [George C.] Marshall said: 'I'm looking for a man for a secret and dangerous mission. I'm looking for a West Point football player.' Football is how we train young men for battle, whether we like to admit it or not."
Marshall had always been fascinated by the military; on Sept. 11, 2001, he watched the events in New York, Arlington, Va., and Pennsylvania on television with the rest of the world. The following day, he went to a Marine Corps recruiting office and signed up. He was an 18-year-old senior at Broomfield High, just outside Denver. Three days after graduating, he left for Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
During his first tour of Iraq, Marshall's platoon leader asked him whether he had ever considered an officer program. Several options were presented to him, but the one that intrigued him the most was the Naval Academy, in part because it would give him the chance to play football again.
Marshall had always loved football and dreamed of playing it in college, but he didn't have the grades to do so after high school. Football had also been a way for Marshall to follow what he viewed as his calling as a warrior.
"When he stands up there and says [to the football team] that he would go to war with any one of us, that rings home because he's been to war," said senior linebacker Ross Pospisil, the defensive captain. "For us, talk is cheap. It's the real deal for him. For him to say something like that, I think it brings a closeness to the team. A lot of guys trust him."
Said senior nose guard Jordan Stephens, one of Marshall's roommates: "He always sets the example. It's hugely calming to know that there's someone in our ranks, as far as football goes, that's able to bring the military stuff together for us."
LOUISIANA TECH@NAVY
Saturday,
3:30 p.m.
TV: CBS
College Sports Network
Radio: 1090 AM, 1430 AM
Line: Navy
by 7 1/2
