Navy News, news from Iraq - Navy Times

Former Naval Academy standout football player Kyle Eckel, now playing professionally for the Miami Dolphins, was kicked out of the Navy last month and will have to repay a portion of the cost of his Annapolis education.

Citing privacy concerns, the Navy would not characterize the specific nature of Eckel’s “administrative separation,” saying only that it was “involuntary.” Eckel declined an interview request through a team representative, and attempts to reach his agent were unsuccessful.

“Ensign Eckel was administratively separated on 31 October 2006,” said Lt. Ryan Perry, a spokesman for the Navy’s Office of Information at the Pentagon. “Due to personal privacy of the individual being discharged, the Navy does not discuss the reason for the service member’s discharge, nor the characterization of that discharge.”

According to Cmdr. Ed Austin, a Naval Academy spokesman, Eckel graduated in May 2005 and was commissioned as an ensign. Eckel had the dubious distinction of being ranked last in his class, dubbed the “anchor man.” After graduation, he was assigned temporary additional duty in the Physical Education Department at the Naval Academy, Austin said. In August 2005, Eckel reported to his next temporary additional duty assignment at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I., where he assisted the NAPS athletic director and coached NAPS football, Austin said.

At the same time, Eckel began practicing with the New England Patriots football team.

That was consistent with government regulations concerning “outside employment” activities of members of the armed services and federal government employees, Austin said. Eckel was allowed to practice with the Patriots because:

• The employment was not prohibited by statute or agency regulation.

• The employment did not require disqualification from matters central to his duties (due to conflicts of interest).

• There was no improper use of government resources.

• Eckel’s employment did not detract from readiness or pose a security risk.

Eckel’s outside employment with the Patriots was authorized on a “not-to-interfere” basis with his military duties, during his off-duty time and on leave, Austin said.

According to the Patriots, Eckel was signed as an undrafted free agent April 29, 2005.

He was later picked up on waivers by the Miami Dolphins.

According to a Nov. 2 announcement on the Dolphins’ official Web site, Eckel was removed from the team’s reserve/military list and placed on the exempt/commissioner permission list.

“Kyle Eckel got here late last night,” Dolphins head coach Nick Saban said in the announcement. “He had a physical this morning. He received his discharge on October 31, 2006. By virtue of receiving that discharge, he became eligible to return to the team. He’s exempt for the rest of this year because of the commissioner’s permission list, so we get a roster exemption for him the rest of this year. If we want him on the 53-man roster, then we have to clear a roster spot for him and then we lose the exemption if we ever want to put him back. He has an exemption to get ready for the rest of the year and we go from there.”

“This is the next stage of my life,” Eckel, the fourth all-time leading rusher in Naval Academy history, told the Miami Herald on Nov. 3. “And I’ll hit it head-on.”

According to information on the National Football League Players Association Web site, Eckel’s base salary is $275,000.

Court dates

In recent months, Eckel has been battling more than just the Navy and NFL linemen. He faced two assault charges and a sex-offense charge in Anne Arundel County District Court for an August incident, according to District Court of Maryland records. The charges were later dropped. Navy officials, however, said those charges were not connected to Eckel being booted from military service.

“The [Anne Arundel County] charges were not a factor in Ensign Eckel’s separation from the Navy,” Perry, the Navy Pentagon spokesman, said.

Eckel, however, could face another court appearance very soon, this time as a witness in a rape case involving former Navy football teammate Kenny Ray Morrison. In the criminal charging documents against Morrison, Eckel is identified as being present in a Washington, D.C., hotel room during a midshipman party Feb. 3.

During that party, Midshipman 1st Class Morrison is alleged to have raped a female midshipman.

The charges against Morrison allege he showed the “nude or partially nude” body of the female midshipman to Eckel and another male midshipman by lifting a blanket off her.

Evidence against Morrison was presented at an Article 32 hearing at the Washington Navy Yard on Nov. 2, but Eckel was not called as a witness.

The Navy would not comment Nov. 16 on whether that incident played any role in Eckel’s discharge.

Regardless, Navy officials decided Oct. 31 to boot Eckel from the service.

By law, Naval Academy graduates who do not fulfill the required follow-on service commitment must repay the education expense on a prorated basis, according to Perry.

“Ensign Eckel did not fulfill his service commitment and must repay $96,229.56,” Perry said.