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The daily schedule of a military school is not for everybody: Wake up at 6 a.m., salute the flag, go to class, room inspection, lights out at 10.
For several Montgomery County natives who chose the road less traveled, the price of playing Division I college football was not money; rather, well, boredom. But was it worth it?
Some say yes.
"Definitely, on the field and off," said East Carolina (N.C.) University wide receiver Dayon Arrington. "We faced people who went to colleges all across the country, so the magnitude of talent was crazy. And day to day, the routine and how strict it was prepared me for anything that the world would give me."
Others, no.
"It was like jail," said University of Maryland defensive tackle Zach Kerr. "They take things away from you: Cell phone, internet privileges, they had all these sites blocked. … I'm a big mama's boy and I couldn't talk to her when I wanted to. I mean, they'd get you up every day at 5:55, which is ridiculous and just petty. It wasn't for me, really."
What they could agree on was the main thing they each took from their first year after graduating high school: Discipline. For Arrington, a 2007 Paint Branch alumnus, much of it came within the Hargrave Military Academy (Va.) classrooms. In one semester, he bumped his grade-point average and SAT scores well over the NCAA partial-qualifier index scale.
But Arrington feels his skills improved just as much as his character. Now as a redshirt freshman, he is still "getting most reps with the No. 2 offense" in the preseason, but is not particularly scared by the cornerbacks he faces in practice.
You see, in practices at Hargrave, he faced "one of the best players I've ever gone up against," 2007 Watkins Mill graduate Josh Pleasant, now a sophomore defensive back at Kent State (Ohio) University.
"Aw, man, we had some battles," said Arrington. "If you ask me, I think I scored on him enough times to say I got the best of him. But Josh, he's really one of the best corners I ever went against. That's why I say I came in totally prepared for college DBs."
Unlike his Montgomery brethren, Pleasant's decision to go to Hargrave had nothing to do with academics. Whether it was his modest 5-foot-10 frame or lack of exposure with the Wolverines, he only garnered scholarship offers from Division I-AA Maine and Division II West Virginia-Wesleyan as a senior.
He knew he was better than that.
"I was under-recruited and I didn't want to settle," said Pleasant. "I always had dreams of playing D-I football and I didn't feel I wanted to go I-AA or D-II. My uncle told my dad I could play at that level, and he said, ‘I'm putting a lot of money out there for you if you're think you're good enough.'"
The move turned out to be shrewd. On a team chock full of future Division I athletes, Pleasant was one of its most dominant, intercepting six passes and returning two punts for touchdowns. He also took matters into his own hands, cramming 4 minutes and 43 seconds of highlights onto a Youtube video.
Pleasant did not even play cornerback in high school. Yet that is where he is listed as a starter on the Golden Flashes' depth chart.
But he does not attribute his quick rise so much to what he learned at Hargrave as to his competition there: Arrington.
"We were from the same area, same music, same type of style, and he was one of the toughest receivers I faced," said Pleasant. "It was more learning to compete. You had five-star recruits over there. Hargrave was a stepping stone to let colleges know I could play."
Colleges knew about Kerr well before he began his one semester at Fork Union Military Academy (Va.). Listed by recruiting Web site www.rivals.com as the 11th-ranked prospect in the state after his senior year, the 320-pound defensive tackle signed a National Letter of Intent with Maryland in February of 2008.
The ensuing fall could not have ended soon enough, however. And while his time at military school "put some discipline" in him, it's clear he prefers where he is now.
"The football's good, but it's not Maryland. I'm going up against Phil Costa every day, Bruce Campbell, who's probably going to be a first-round draft pick. At Fork Union, I think there was one guy that went I-AA, some other D-II guys, but there's no comparison at all."
