According to reports, the Navy is reversing course and giving Navy cornerback Cameron Kinley the go-ahead to play pro football and delay his entry into the service.
Lucas Tomlinson of FOX News is reporting that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is set to make the announcement that the Navy will allow Kinley to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Defense secretary to allow Navy CB and Naval Academy class president Cameron Kinley opportunity to sign with Tampa Bay Buccaneers and attend training camp. Official announcement coming soon from Pentagon. https://t.co/4JAzVdqrg7
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) July 6, 2021
Kinley, who just graduated from the Naval Academy, wanted to serve his time in the Navy after an NFL career, but had been denied the deferment after repeated requests.
Deferments for this purpose are very common for standout athletes in the Army and Navy. Indeed, as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio noted in his letter to the Biden administration, several other top players have been allowed deferments in the last few years.
Rubio called the denial of a deferment for Kinley “an issue of great unfairness” in his June letter to Biden.
“Mr. Kinley is not seeking to terminate his commitment to the Navy. Far from it. He wishes to promote service to our great nation from one of the country’s largest stages. I implore you to right this wrong,” Rubio wrote. “Grant Mr. Kinley’s waiver to play in the NFL, and send a message to future academy graduates that the United States is a country where Americans can follow their dreams and be true to their commitment.”
If the reports are true, it looks like Kinley’s requests for a deferment are finally bearing fruit.
Kinley played 27 games for Navy and earned 88 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack, an interception, and a forced fumble. The Bucs signed him undrafted after he attended some of the team’s offseason training programs.
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