Five football players headed to U.S. military after Saturday's All-Star game
Read more: Sports, UP High School All Star Football, Mike Bedard
MARQUETTE, MI -- When the final whistle blows at Saturday's Upper Peninsula All-Star football game at the Superior Dome, it's off to college for some players while others will head into the work force, but for five players, it's on to the military.
"It's just something I've wanted to do since I was a young kid," says Baraga's Matt Velmer. "I wrote a letter back, I want to say, in sixth grade, and it said play football or join the Army, and I did one of them."
L'Anse's Dennis Anderson is headed for the Air Force and says the military is definitely for him. "It sounds fun and that's kind of what I want to do; I don't really want to be out on the ground, I want to be involved in intelligence and hopefully take it from there."
For others, serving in the Armed Forces has been a family tradition. "My family has a history of being in the military," says Lake Linden Hubbell's Jake Killian. "My mom was in the Navy, my dad was in the Marines. My sister is in the Air Force and my uncle was in the Air Force."
By the end of the summer, these kids will play for a new team--a team that wears the familiar colors of red, white and blue. The thought of facing combat in the future would scare anyone, but these kids say it's all just part of the job.
"I think you have to have the nerve," Anderson says. "You just have to be ready to go."
By early August, Velmer will be learning to drive a tank in the Army. Right after the game on Saturday, Anderson plans on enlisting in the Air Force, and Jake Killian hopes to report to an Air Force boot camp by the Fall.
For all the reasons to join the military, money for college or on the job training, it comes down to just one reason, says Velmer. "I'm excited to go. I want to serve my country."
Two other players will be going on to the military following the All-Star game Saturday. Menominee's Brandon Colvin is enlisting in the Army and Gladstone's Eric Lasecki is headed for the Marines.
