Thompson's eyes were still glistening. This time, he hugged Thompson, the gold number 22 on his chest colliding with the blue number 32 on Thompson's. The closeness they felt at that moment is usually only felt by men who have gone to war together. Of course, they had been to war. Just on opposite sides.
Coaches see themselves as generals, their assistants as the officers, the players as the soldiers.
The violent nature of the sport lends itself easily to the notion that every game is about killing or being killed. And once upon a time, when there was a military draft that meant many athletes had to serve in the armed forces, when being a military officer paid as much as or more than a job in the National Football League paid, and when the United States was undefeated in war, truly great and gifted football players flocked to West Point to play for Army and to Annapolis to play for Navy. The football history of the two academies dates back to 1879, when Navy played the Baltimore Athletic Club to a scoreless tie, and to 1890, when cadet Dennis Michie challenged Navy to a game at West Point. No one concedes anything in this rivalry without a fight. The football history of both academies is full of glory and glamorous names, whether they are Glenn Davis, Doc Blanchard, and Pete Dawkins at Army in the forties and fifties or Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach at Navy in the sixties.