The best of Army and Navy
A special game
A special atmosphere always surrounds matchups between Army and Navy. The prestige of the game is fitting given some of the legends who have taken the field for the two service academies. Check out some of the well-known faces to come out of Army and Navy.
LaurenceWild played and coached for Navy. After his senior season in 1913, Wild was named an All-American in basketball. The following year — his only year as coach — Wild proceeded to lead the Navy Midshipmen to an undefeated season.
Despite having played for Navy over 25 years ago, Napoleon McCallum still holds some significant Navy records including 4,179 career rushing yards, 858 career punt return yards, 1,587 single-season rushing yards and most 100-yard rushing games in a season and career, eight and 19 respectively.
Phil McConkey was a legendary receiver and punt returner for Navy. His 1,278 yards put him second among Navy receivers in career yards. Mcconkey set or tied multiple records while at Navy. In 1978 he tied the record for career receiving touchdowns with 6 and racked up 736 yards on 80 career punt returns — a Navy record.
Felix 'Doc' Blanchard was part of a famous Army backfield tandem alongside teammate Glenn Davis. In fact, Blanchard won the Heisman in 1945, beating out Davis who came in second.
Not to be outdone by teammate Doc Blanchard , Davis took home the trophy in 1946. The two Army players became the second pair of players to win the Heisman back-to-back from the same school — a feat no two players have accomplished since.
Time management and discipline are two cornerstones of Parcells-coached teams and those ideals came directly from Parcells' experience as an assistant coach at Army. Since his days at Army Parcells has gone on to coaching success in the NFL winning two Superbowls with the Giants and becoming a respected coaching mind.
David Robinson is known as one of the best NBA centers of all-time and a geniunely great guy. No doubt that clean cut exterior is due to his background at Navy. In his collegiate career, Robinson averaged 21 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Robinson loaded up on awards his senior season winning AP Player of the Year, the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award to name a few.
From 1966-69 Krzyzewski played point guard and shooting gurad for Bob Knights’ Army basketball team. Krzyzewski was destined for a hall of fame career — just not as a player. Krzyzewski began coaching for Army in 1975 and in 1980 he became the head coach at Duke. Krzyzewski is already a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and in November ‘Coach K became the only coach in Division I history to have won 903 games breaking a previous tie between Krzyzewski and his college coach — Bob Knight.
Bob Knight began his collegiate coaching career with Army in 1965. At 24, Knight wouldn't have been much older than some of the men he coached. After a solid six years at Army, Knight moved on to the Indiana Hoosiers where he spent the next 24 years and fully cemented his legacy in college basketball.
Joe Bellino
After rushing for 1,664 yards, scoring 31 touchdowns and returning kicks for 833 yards in 1960, Joe Bellino became the first Navy player to win the Heisman Trophy. Bellino's Heisman win wasn't the only big win for Navy that year. Bellino was instrumental in Navy's 17-12 win over Army that season.
Roger Staubach
is a legendary quarterback in both collegiate and NFL history. Before going on to star for the Dallas Cowboys, Staubach put together an award-winning career at Navy. In 1963 Staubach won the Heisman trophy following a season in which the QB threw for 1,474 yards and added the Maxwell Trophy and Walter Camp Memorial Trophy to his list of accomplishments.
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