Should the Army Football team waive height and weight standards to have a chance of being a great football program?

No. They are a service academy. Football is an extracurricular activity.

No. They are soldiers first.

NO, their preparation is to become Army Officers not football players. The ultimate goal is on meeting Army physical standards and prepare them for that service not athletic pursuits !

MSG (Join to see) No - Standards apply. As others have posted, the Academy is training future officers, not NFL candidates.

Absolutely, 1SG!

That’s the only way they could actually ever compete against real teams. This level of football shouldn’t be playing with little leagues rules of weight restrictions...

If you don’t want to compete, there’s no reason to have a football team.

Let’s not forget that there are officers currently serving that do not meet the AR 600-9 height/weight standards. It’s not just the enlisted side.

NO dammit!. They are training to be officers, can you see following someone built like a refrigerator in combat? They will be leaders, if football is more important to them than that , then resign and go to a civilian college!

This question comes up for the Naval Academy as well. In my opinion, you join the military BECAUSE YOU ARE HERE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY. Not to play football. If you want to play football AND be in the military, you should be within height/weight standards.

NO. Lead from the front and by example.

No. There are enough "Football Uber Alles" Jockocracies in higher education; the Army need not follow that lead. The Army needs to hold standards and assert that the academy's sports program, while important, are in fact not (in practice) more important than its core purpose to train and educate the nation's future military leaders.

Where an I get an ARMY flag like that!!! :D