President Trump’s ‘new’ policy on service academy athletes is just Obama’s old policy

President Donald Trump attended Saturday’s Army-Navy game where he announced his administration is enacting a new policy allowing players to receive a waiver to complete their military service after playing in the NFL.

He said to players in a locker room visit:

“So what we’re doing now is you’ll go out and you’ll make a fortune, and after you are all finished with your professional career, you’ll go and you’ll serve. And everybody’s thrilled.”

The decision was largely met with adulation and is being used as a bellwether to show the president’s support for the armed forces. Numerous writeups of the decision, such as this one by Fox News, are highlighting the talk Trump gave to players — but not mentioning necessary subtext.

The policy shift under Trump is good, but hardly new. It was actually President Barack Obama who expanded the service waiver policy in 2016, which allowed prospective pro athletes to be placed on “Ready Reserve” status rather than undertake a mandatory two-year commitment. Applications were approved case-by-case, which allowed then-Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds to be drafted in the sixth round by the Baltimore Ravens. Reynolds has been on and off NFL rosters since then, most recently signing with the Seattle Dragons of the XFL.

In May 2017, Trump’s Department of Defense announced these waivers would no longer be granted. Cancelling the Obama White House policy, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said the following:

“Our military academies exist to develop future officers who enhance the readiness and the lethality of our military services. Graduates enjoy the extraordinary benefit of a military academy education at taxpayer expense.”

Air Force wide receiver Jalen Robinette was regarded as the only draftable prospect from the armed forces in 2017. The school’s all-time leading receiver, it was expected a team would select him. However, the Air Force broke the news before the NFL Draft that military waivers would no longer be granted, prior to the Pentagon’s statement which came after the conclusion of the draft. Air Force said it was making a “good faith” decision to protect NFL teams from drafting players who wouldn’t be available.

Trump had been pressuring the Pentagon to reverse course on the waiver issue since June, reverting back to Obama’s policy. On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stood before the media in the Army locker room and called it a “new policy.”

Make no mistake: While the move is the correct, this was not a new policy. It simply rolled back a bad decision by the Department of Defense.