Athletics & Flying

[Whitman]

Any one on here ever meet Chad Hennings? I'm a huge Cowboys fan and thought it was cool that he served his country flying the A-10 when he could've gone straight to the pros.

[B-O-double-Z]

Any one on here ever meet Chad Hennings? I'm a huge Cowboys fan and thought it was cool that he served his country flying the A-10 when he could've gone straight to the pros.

You have your facts a bit backward...

There were no deals cut for Chad that would have allowed him to go "straight to the pros." He went off to flight school thinking that he'd have to serve the obligatory 8 or 9 years that was the norm back then. He never totallygave up hope of playing in the NFL, so even when he was in the military, he kept himself it top condition. In 1992, he was able to get out of the Air Force because there was a draw-down going on. All you had to do to get out, for about a two year period, no matter how much of your commitment was remaining, was fill out a form.

He didn't just quit the AF on a whim either. Once he knew that he could quit, he arranged a workout with the Cowboys, who had spent a late round draft choice on him in 1988, just in the hopes that he'd be able to get out at some point. He blew them away at the workout, they offered him a contract, and he then quit the AF. The rest is history...he played nine years in Dallas and has three rings.

If he had been able to get out after graduation, he'd have been a first or second round draft choice. The four years he spent in the AF cost him millions, but he was proud to serve and never regretted having to take a circuitous route to the pros. He could have turned down flight school and been assured of getting out in five years, but he didn't do that.

Like most other AFA cadets of his area, if he was going to be in the Air Force, he wanted to be a fighter pilot. He achieved that too.

[Whitman]

My bad. I was under the impression that if an AFA player gets drafted in the NFL, there's a good chance of getting out of the AD commitment and going straight to pros due to the good publicity they would generate for the Air Force.

[Bishop]

I got the chance to meet him he was roommates with my JROTC AASI (at the academy), or something, I didnt realize the importance of what was happening before me being in 9th grade so I kept to myself and didn't take the opportunity to talk to him.

[Guest Jimmy]

Hey bonehead. SIU = Southern Illinois University = D1. Not "really small." Reference the basketball team. And I'd wager to say that being a Cross Country/Middle distance Track runner is one of the toughest things going. Probably not as physically demanding as football, but much more so than baseball or basketball. Try running 20 400M laps each under 60 secs with only a 200M walk as a rest between laps. Those were the hardest workouts of my life, really makes a person question their will to continue. There are also very few athletes more disciplined and competitive than a D1 cross country runner. Running at that level takes a god-given talent and an incredible tolerance for pain. I understand you said you weren't knocking anything, but I'm not really sure what the point of your post was.

Agree 102.3%. The only sport I can ever think of where an 8 mile run was a reward from my coach. Those were probably the best days of my life.