Great Summary of 2006 Football Banquet

Sports Comment: Mids let emotions flow for class football actBy JOE GROSS, Senior Staff WriterMore people than ever turned out on Friday night for Navy's annual football banquet. They came to celebrate another year of success on the football field.As much as the 2006 season alone, the banquet was more of a remembrance of the 35 senior members of the team and their achievements of the past four years: Thus the theme of the event, "Celebrating the Class of 2007."In recent years there has been no guest speaker at the banquet. It was strictly an in-house type of event that put the emphasis on the Midshipmen.There was no need for a rah-rah type of speaker, no need for inspirational messages, no need for emotional stories. That entire spectrum was covered by the young men who have been with the football program for the past four seasons.The messages delivered by the superintendent Vice Adm. Rodney Rempt, athletic director Chet Gladchuk, coach Paul Johnson and the team captains James Rossi and Rob Caldwell said as much as any speaker from the outside might have done.Quite appropriately, there were such words as determination, talent, work, passion, courage, devotion, commitment, desire, dedication and tenacity used to describe the players who were being honored.Simply talking about the records of the past four Navy teams was reason for excitement for the more than 1,200 faithful Navy supporters - Naval Academy personnel, families of players, Naval Academy alumni and townspeople - who filled the tables on the floor and concourse of Alumni Hall.Think about the honor of having gone 8-0 against service academy archrivals: That's defeating Army and Air Force in each of their four seasons. Those wins were biggest for a group that won 35 games during their varsity careers. The seniors were part of the first Navy teams to have four consecutive seasons with eight or more wins since the teams of 1905 to 1908.They played in bowls games after each of their four seasons. They led the nation in rushing in three of their four years including the last two seasons. The seniors helped Navy to a 17-4 home record during their four years in Annapolis.It would be difficult for fans to not get excited hearing about such accomplishments.There were plenty of emotional moments and memories for those supporters looking for that type of thing that is normal at a season-ending banquet.The emotions came from such moments as the introduction of Eddie Martin, who became a symbol of courage for his teammates as he spent the season battling Lymphoma.Moments of emotion were apparent at the mention of the season-ending knee injury to starting quarterback Brian Hampton and then again when the highlight film showed him being carted from the field early in the game against Rutgers.Emotion came from the stirring farewell comments from Caldwell, who expressed his appreciation and love of his coaches and teammates noting at the end, "It's been an honor to represent you."And emotion was evident from the hugs and back pats shared by each of the seniors as they received plaques from coaches Buddy Green and Ken Niumatalolo.Emotions were overflowing when the parents of fallen Navy football player Ron Winchester, who was killed in Iraq on Sept. 3, 2004, presented the Unsung Hero award named for their son to Anthony Picconi.And the highlight film had many moments of the emotion of joy and a few of sorrow as the 9-4 season was condensed to just a few of the more meaningful minutes.The banquet didn't need a guest speaker, though it did have such guests as Navy's first Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino, All-America tackle Bob Reifsnyder, 1963 team captain Tom Lynch and legendary coach Wayne Hardin.It was also a night for humility. Players credited their coaches for the success, coaches credited the players. Johnson credited his assistants, the support of the brigade and the fans.There were more than a few standing ovations during the event: All of them were well-deserved. There were tears and laughter. There was raucous applause and silence.And, there was more than an underlying subtle knowledge that those young men, the senior leaders of the 2006 Navy football team, would be leaving Annapolis in May to take their next steps toward being defenders of our nation.There was no need for a guest speaker.