Glen Coffee; NFL running back at Ranger School
Glenwood Razeem “Glen” Coffee, Jr, after being a starting running back in his Junior year at the University of Alabama in 2008, became a third-round draft pick for the NFL in 2009 and he was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers. Before the 2010 season began, he retired from the sport after one year as a second stringer on the NFL team.
According to ProFootballTalk, he told the Sacramento Bee that the NFL ruined too many lives;
“As far as the NFL goes, I have a hard time putting it like this because it sounds kind of harsh, but I feel like it ruins a lot of lives more than anything else,” Coffee said. “And that goes for people who have short careers in the NFL and long careers in the NFL. Because what happens is they see that as success.”
According to the Washington Post, he found Christ and football was no longer a dream.
In 2013, he enlisted in the Army and he’s currently a specialist and part of the support staff for waterborne operations at the 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Eglin Air Force Base, near his home at Fort Walton Beach.
The Post asked him if he is going to train to be a Ranger;
“Not everyone can serve in combat arms, and not everyone can serve in a Special Operations capacity,” he said. “So that’s why I joined. I felt like I was able to do it. Physically and mentally, because there is a mental aspect to it, too.”
Although not in Special Operations…he is asked regularly if he wants to attend Ranger School himself. The grueling leadership course is a minimum of 61 days long, with minimal sleep and food and stints at Fort Benning, Ga., and the mountains of northern Georgia before arriving in the swamps of Eglin Air Force Base.
“That’s one of those things I ask myself right now, as a matter of fact,” Coffee said of attending the course. “Am I thinking about that because I want to do it out of pride, or because it would actually better me as a person? So, I’m debating that right now. I have to ask myself, why would I want to go?”
Category: Army News
Sounds like a Great Young American to me.
He found that there is more to life than football.
Good for him. A very smart young man. May he live long and prosper.
I remember Coffee!
He was executed in the Louisiana State Prison for a crime he didn’t commit, after saving the life of the Warden’s wife.
John,
WAKE UP! BREATH! EVERYTHING WILL BE OK!
That was just a movie …
OUT!
That was John Coffey, like drink but spelled different.
That was the “Green Mile” excellent movie!
I have been enjoying the WaPo articles about the Training Battalion. The media is in the Ranger Camp because of the women students, but are filling their time and making their dime doing side stories. This is the 4th story of this type that I have seen come out of this. I will be out at Camp Rudder this morning, and want to see if these media types are getting in the way, or behaving themselves.
I remember him playing for the Niners… looked like he could have been successful, but they had Frank Gore at the time.
Good luck to him.
“The New York Giants lost a good man.”
Those were some of the final words spoken by a Marine officer named Jack Lummus, according to his commanding officer who recounted them in a letter to Jack’s mother. The CO followed the quote with, “We all lost a good man.” Jack was an NFL player who joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor. He was a helluva football player at Baylor and his pro football career was assured. But he left it to fight for his country.
Jack Lummus was killed on Iwo Jima. You can read about him both at the Hall of Valor and the Football Hall of Fame. The Hall of Valor lists his Medal of Honor citation. The Hall of Fame includes his name among the NFL players–and a coach–who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Ever heard of Bob Kalsu? Probably, if you served in Iraq before 2011. FOB Kalsu was about 20 miles from Baghdad. Kalsu played for Oklahoma and was the Buffalo Bills’ Rookie of the Year in 1968. He was at Fire Support Base Ripcord in 1970 when he was killed, one of two NFL players who Fell in Vietnam.
Coffee’s story is unusual nowadays. It wasn’t always so. He continues a special legacy, and I wish him well.
I was never a Steelers fan, but it was impossible for me not to wish Rocky Bleier all the best. He came by his purple heart honestly. As Oliver North might say, his was a war story to remember.
http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/pittsburgh-steelers-rocky-bleier-recalls-vietnam-war-40-years-after-it-ended-043015
The Bleier story is an wonderful story of two men’s men: Rocky and Art Rooney. Decent, honorable, honest, and full of heart, the both of them. Here’s my favorite piece about Bleier.
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2009/8/19/990365/40-years-ago-today-in-steelers
An educated and decent young man finds Jesus and joins the US Army, CHECK!
Is humble and wants to contribute, CHECK!
Thinks he has the right stuff … Give him a crack at it!
Great story! God’s speed!
PS: I love the fact that he finds and believes the US Army is far less hazardous than the NFL. And in comparison, in terms of numbers and injuries, he may very well be correct!
He is spot on in saying how the NFL ruins lives. Professional sports, hell the entertainment industry as a whole gives youth a pipe dream to chance.
Nothing at all wrong with playing a sport or loving music, but you get these kids with some talent who are pampered by the educational system because they can run or throw a ball. Their grades suck and they get passed,,, all the way through college.
At every level 95% or more cant make the step up in competetion. They end up in their early or mid 20s with no skill and a bad attitude and a sense of entitlement.
Someone raised this young man right! Kudos to SPC Coffee’s mother!
Spc Coffee, your priorities are correct. Thank your for holding up your right hand and swearing the oath. May you give the Army as much as it gives to you.
This guy reminds of someone. In late March 1970, at Fort Lost In The Woods, Missouri I lined up outside the bus for that initial “interview” with our drill sergeants. One of us was a black guy of medium height and a noticeably muscular build. He didn’t look scared like the rest of us so the DIs picked at him a little – they requested 20 pushups for some supposed infraction. Standing at attention and looking over the head of one little short shit DI, he shouts, “Which hand drill sergeant?”. The DI replies, “ok smartass, left hand!” So he gives him 20 with the left. As I recall, he had to work for the last one or two.
Turns out, he was on a football farm teams and he was in pretty good shape – compared to the rest of us he was in outstanding shape. As our training progressed, he was picked for one of those temporary leadership positions – team leader or something – that they do to see if a person should be promoted and he did okay. After basic, I never heard about him again.
Gameday is the “reward”. The ugly brutal parts are the practices, mini camps, and year round strength & conditioning sessions…beats the hell out of player’s bodies ( Are you hurt or are you injured? ).
Minimum salary in NFL in 2015 is $435K & average pay is $600K-$700K range. Life span of NFL career is roughly 3.5 yrs.
Didnt get to run into him while in Fayetteville. But my boy here did training with him. he had no idea who Glen Coffee was…it was amazing he said. Officers were kissing his ass and trying to exclude him from activities but he refused to allow that and put some work in. Good man!
Now this Gentleman should be held up as a true Role Model for the next generation.