Department Of Defense Changes Policy

Last summer, the Department of Defense changed its rules to allow graduates going into professional sports to fulfill their requirements in the reserves rather than active duty. Now, the DoD has changed its mind. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis signed an order to rescind the pro sports policy, meaning that athletes will be required to fulfill their active duty requirement before joining a professional sports team (link via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post). Keenan Reynolds (vertical)

This year, the rule change burned Air Force wide receiver Jalen Robinette. Robinette had a chance of being taken in the late rounds on Saturday, but the Air Force disclosed just prior to the draft that its athletes would have to serve in active duty. The rule change does not apply retroactively to Ravens wide receiver Keenan Reynolds, however (Twitter link via PFT).

The DoD’s flip-flop may hurt the ability of the service academies to recruit high-level football players going forward.

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