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Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) gives former Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie cornerback Cameron Kinley another shot at his NFL dream.
Kinley joined the Bucs as an undrafted free agent last month, but the former Navy standout got called away recently to fulfill his service commitment as required of academy graduates. The Navy denied his appeal request under former acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Harker.
Now, Sen. Rubio wrote a letter to President Joe Biden on Sunday, requesting a reversal of the Navy’s decision, allowing Kinley to play for the Bucs according to The Hill’s Olafimihan Oshin. Rubio noted the policy in place to allow for military academy graduates to play professional sports.
Rubio also shared on Twitter that he will also ask the Secretary for the Navy nominee Carlos Del Toro “to commit to this.”
Kinley excelled at Navy as both 2021 class president the football team’s captain. He told Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show via Pro Football Talk that he wanted to play in the NFL since childhood but also confirmed his desire to serve the U.S.
“I’m speechless,” Kinley said. “I felt like I had a piece of me taken away. I just felt like I had the opportunity to do both and I don’t see why I’m not able to.”
Captain Jereal Dorsey, a spokesman for Harker at the time, released a statement to ESPN about the matter. Harker “declined to forward requests from recent Naval Academy graduates to the Secretary of Defense, seeking to delay their commissions” according to Dorsey’s statement.
“Every Midshipman attends on the same terms and each has the same responsibility to serve,” Dorsey wrote. “Exceptions to that commitment to serve have been rightfully rare.”
It didn’t shock Kinley in one sense.
“That’s kind of the business that we’re in in the military. I’m not owed an explanation,” Kinley told Patrick via Pro Football Talk.
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Service Academy Grads Recently Allowed to Play First
Other NFL players who graduated from military academies since 2019 have been able to delay service to play. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper signed a memo to allow it in 2019 at the request of former President Donald Trump according to the Associated Press via ESPN, which reversed a 2017 decision.
Besides Kinley, former Army linebacker John Rhattigan also joined the NFL as an undrafted free agent this spring. Rhattigan, who is competing for a spot with the Seattle Seahawks, has been able to participate at the Army’s permission per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
Kinley likewise had the Navy’s consent to compete in the Bucs rookie minicamp per ESPN. He made some noise while there, too, when he picked off a pass from rookie quarterback Kyle Trask.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said he liked what he saw in the former Navy team captain and welcomes him back if he can return.
“He’s obviously very important to the Navy … I would love to have him. I thought he showed promise,” Arians said per ABC Action News’ Kyle Burger.
Dream on Hold But Ready to Serve
Kinley, a Memphis native, sent a letter to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, in hopes to reverse the Navy’s decision according to ESPN. Active duty for a Naval Academy graduate lasts five years and Kinley intends to do that sooner or later.
“The common misconception is that I don’t want to serve and that’s never been the case,” Kinley told Patrick. “I just want to get my story out there because I feel like it needs to be heard.”
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