Former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who is the President of the NCAA, along with the Executive Director of the College Football Playoffs are being asked to save The Army Navy Game. The 125th edition of the iconic game is being played Saturday.
Rhode Island US Senator Jack Reed and Connecticut Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal have penned a letter asking that the patriotic sporting event be a stand alone event.
This year is the first year that NCAA Football playoff games will be competing for viewership. It is the first time since 2009 that have happened.
The fifty members of congress write:
“The Army vs. Navy Football Game – affectionately known as “America’s Game” – has long been recognized as one of the greatest events in all of college sports,” the 55 members of Congress wrote in the letter. “The game is so important that it continued to be played even during World War II. Citizens throughout the world look forward to the game’s telecast, which engages the interest of millions of Americans, including the hundreds of thousands of current and former military personnel who watch it. The game is always played in a sold out NFL venue and brings patriotism and pageantry to the fans in the stadium and to the people of the host city. To reflect the immeasurable esteem that this event garnered for decades, it has been played for many years on a Saturday reserved specifically for the Army vs. Navy Game without any competing college football events.”
The letter continues: “We write out of concern that the additional games detract from the focus on our Armed Forces that the nationally televised Army vs. Navy Game provided with a unique day set aside for it. Young Americans often cite the pregame events as igniting their interest in serving in uniform. The airtime of those pregame events are now in jeopardy with a preceding televised college football game. We feel there is no other block of time in television programming that rekindles our nation's patriotism, unity, and confidence in the military and promotes a greater sense of appreciation than this incredible game day production. On behalf of both Army and Navy, all those who are serving or have served our country and the citizens whom we represent, we respectfully request you set aside the second Saturday in December in future seasons solely for the Army vs. Navy Game to preserve this time-honored tradition.”
Reed is a West Point graduate. He will attend this year's game. He says simply "Army Navy is more than a game."
So far there has been no response from either Baker or the Football Committee.
(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Photo: Chris Trotman / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images