Jason Jewell
Chandler Hamilton offensive lineman Patrick Joseph made one of the toughest decisions of his life on Thursday morning when he verbally committed to play football at Army.
Making an early college commitment is tough in itself but Joseph chose to serve our country instead of play football at the BCS level.
Joseph had scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State and Air Force, and while many kids would have jumped at the chance to play at the two in-state schools, Joseph bucked the trend pledged to Army.
“I really feel like this decision comes from a higher calling,” Joseph says.
He follow in the footsteps of his father, who served in the Marines, his grandfather, who was in the Air Force and his mother, who also served.
“At Army I will get a great education as well as play good football,” he said.
Playing at Army is not simply playing football and going to school like the vast majority of schools. Players do not redshirt at the service academies, they must go through boot camp, they take upwards of 16 credit hours each semester to graduate in four years and after their fours are done, players give back and serve a time commitment. Different branches of the service vary but Joseph will serve five years in the Army once he graduates from West Point.
Joseph adds that his family is proud of the decision he made, a decision he says he feels confident is the right one.
