Linebacker Andre Carter II is the most heralded pro prospect to come out of West Point in many years and an obstacle to his pursuit of an NFL career has been eliminated.
As we noted last week, the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act closed a loophole that allowed athletes from service academies from deferring their five years of service in order to play professional sports. A provision clearing the way for Carter and others to play immediately has been included in the Omnibus Appropriations Measure that is expected to be passed by Congress and signed by President Biden this week, however.
Pete Thamel of ESPN.com reports that the Omnibus Appropriations Measure includes language saying that the new policy governing professional sports “shall only apply with respect to a cadet or midshipman who first enrolls in the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, or the United States Air Force Academy on or after June 1, 2021.” Carter and others who were enrolled ahead of that date would then be eligible to play while deferring their service.
Carter is expected to take part in the Senior Bowl and most draft analysts expect him to be selected somewhere in the first two rounds of the draft. Only two Army players have been drafted since 1969 and both of them were selected in the seventh round. The last Army first-round picks were Glenn Davis and Tex Coulter in 1947.
