"Safety Caleb Campbell became the first Army player to be drafted by the NFL in 11 years when the Detroit Lions selected him in the seventh round last April.

It'll be 11 more years before the next Army player is drafted by the NFL. Maybe longer.

That's because the Army doubled back on both Campbell and the Lions and ruled he cannot play pro football in 2008 – this after spending all spring telling the NFL he could.

Initially, the Army ruled that its players could invoke the "alternative service option," which would allow any player under NFL contract to serve the first two years of his military commitment as a recruiter in the town of his employer. That's why the Lions spent a draft pick on the Perryton, Texas native– he would be able to play for them right away. "