WEST POINT, N.Y. — Like most Army football players this time of year, Ahmad Bradshaw looks like someone has let the air out of him. He’s at least 10 pounds lighter than the 205 he carried into the season. On Saturdays, Bradshaw, the Black Knights quarterback, triggers an option offense, an assignment that means he absorbs one punishing hit after another.
It’s the other six days a week, however, that really take a toll on him. The 6:30 a.m. formations. The 20 hours of classes, and the work for them that keeps Bradshaw at the books long after “Taps” echoes along the banks of the Hudson River at 11:30 p.