"Jarod Allred - Military vs. Professional Sports: On Caleb Campbell

First of all let me get this off my head, I want to say something to all the kids who would like to play professional sports, do not join any branch of the military if you think your good enough to play professional sports. Take it from Caleb Campbell, you can't change your mind once you join the military, it's too late for that. Caleb Campbell should have seen this coming and he should have known that the military comes first and no one is immune to the deployment bug. The military doesn't run it's ship like the NFL, NBA, or MLB. They have INTEGRITY.

Unlike professional sports teams, when you sign that military contract your held to it to the highest standard. Businesses and professional sports teams could learn something from the military. I mean how many times have you heard about someone trying to get out of their contract early because they want to work somewhere else, or because they want more pay. If I would have acted like Bobby Petrino, or Nick Saban and bailed out of my contract to go somewhere else I would have ended up in jail. Maybe we should make that a punishment for contract violations in all businesses.

I do feel bad for Caleb because the military gave him the assumption that he would be allowed to play football even though he is under a military contract. They even let him enter the draft and was drafted in the 7th round by the Detroit Lions in the 2008 NFL draft. He was one day away from starting practice. The military dropped the ball on this subject. They should have told him from the beginning that he wouldn't be allowed to join the NFL due to his military contract. I understand they thought it would be a great recruiting tool, but let the recruiters deal with that impossible task. But to the kids who think they might have a good shot at making the NFL, please don't join any branch of the military or this could happen to you. Give Caleb credit though, he took it like a man and went on about his business, here is what he had to say, "When I got drafted, I told people that I was going to have the best of both worlds," Campbell said. "I was going to be in the United States Army and I was going to have a chance to play professional football. Now, I have the best of one world and I'm very positive about that. It's all going to work out. "I'm in great shape and I'm going to stay in great shape. I'm going to fulfil my duty to the United States Army and do what I've got to do. One day, hopefully I'll get another opportunity to play in the NFL."