Nobody knows why the Secretary of the Navy suddenly decided to cancel the professional sports option for his branch of the armed services.
In late May, Thomas W. Harker denied requests from a pair of former Naval Academy athletes to delay their commissioning to pursue professional sports opportunities. Football player Cameron Kinley and baseball player Charlie Connolly were told three days before graduation they must commission as ensigns and begin serving.
Kinley had signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Connolly was expected to be selected in next month’s Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.