| 11 March 2010
Back in those halcyon days of 2008, the moron running the Lions at the time actually did something worthwhile. In the 7th round of the '08 draft, Matt Millen drafted Army safety Caleb Campbell. At the time of the draft, due to his football talent, Army policy allowed Campbell go to reserve status. Thus letting the kid go through the draft process, and prepare for training camp.
After the Army allowed the Lions and media to trot Campbell out as an example of what sort of person they produce, and getting tons of free, positive publicity in the process, they pulled the rug out from under Campbell.
Army "policy" had been changed (likely due to the other service academies pitching a fit), and Campbell was told to report for active duty. The timing couldn't have been worse. It was the day before he was to report to Lions training camp.
His NFL dreams were put on hold indefinitely.
That dream is no longer on hold.
Per Nick Cotsonika at the Freep:
The Lions invited Campbell for a private workout last week. Campbell arrived Monday night, then went through a physical and workout Tuesday. He worked with coach Jim Schwartz, linebackers coach Matt Burke and special teams coach Danny Crossman. He told goblackknights.com that he weighed 237 pounds and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds.
Campbell returned to Ft. Sill in Oklahoma on Tuesday night. He got good news tonight.“My agent called and said that he was thinking that we are going to get a contract, he wasn't certain, but that he thought one would be coming,” Campbell told goblackknights.com today. “He called me this morning and told me that he had a contract sitting on his desk for me from the Lions. I just found this morning, it's been a heck of a day.”
Couldn't happen to a better guy, and good for the Lions! This will be one of the most interesting stories of training camp.
I really hope this works out for all parties involved. The Lions could get themselves a ballplayer, Campbell finally gets his shot to live out his football dreams, and the Army gets positive publicity.
It was a win-win-win scenario in '08, and remains so today.
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