Comparison of football with battle was off base

Ken Ikeda
Published: August 1, 2008

Jeff Christian’s article on Caleb Campbell, the West Point graduate drafted by the Detroit Lions but who will have to serve on active duty before starting his football career, claims that the Army “botched”
the decision. Jeff goes on to site various examples of similar situations and states a few opinions on various aspects of the case. 

I’m a military graduate and have tried to see both sides of Lieutenant Campbell’s story. So, while I didn’t agree with many of Mr. Christian’s positions, I read on. However, I felt I had to comment upon Mr.
Christian’s last line in his article, which in some ways compared playing in the NFL with dying in battle in the service of one’s country. I thought that this comparison was highly inappropriate. What struck
me as even worse was the use of the term “bodybag” to illustrate his point. 

I’d like to ask Mr. Christian to detail his knowledge and experience with the military and their respective academies. This information would help me gauge how upset I should really be about the closing of
this article.

KEN IKEDA

Woodbridge