For Patriots long snapper, victory on the battlefield means something very different

Posted by Admin April 22, 2024 Football

Frank Lennon
| Special to The Journal

It’s NFL Draft week, so I’m going to bookend the event with two columns about football and the military. Here’s the first.

West Point grad Douglas MacArthur once said, “On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days, on other fields will bear the fruits of victory.”

New cadets memorize those words during the first few weeks of Cadet Basic Training. In layman’s terms, the lessons learned in athletic competition will likely lead to winning more battles in real wars.

This week’s column is about Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona. Even though he played for Navy, Joe is an excellent example of MacArthur’s quote playing out in real life. But victory does not come without a price. Since 1942, 26 men who played in the NFL have died in the service of our country.

Blue-collar beginnings

“I grew up in East County, a blue-collar suburb of San Diego,” Joe Cardona told me.

“My dad joined the Navy out of high school,” Cardona told U.S. Navy Reserve magazine in May 2022. “He was an aviation electronics technician who did seven years active duty and spent 17 years in the Reserve.”

When his father left the Navy, he continued training sailors and Marines on avionics platforms for various aircraft. “I grew up around the Navy and Marine Corps,” Cardona said.

Cardona told U.S. Navy Reserve magazine, “When I was offered an opportunity to attend the Naval Academy, I jumped at it.”

On to Newport and Annapolis

Cardona’s introduction to Rhode Island came when he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport.

At Annapolis, Cardona became only the second freshman in Navy history to start at long snapper. He lettered four times, and the Midshipmen played in three bowl games and defeated arch-rival Army all four years. According to the [Annapolis] Capital Gazette in 2015, he was not charged with a single bad snap his entire career.

I asked when he’d started seriously thinking he had a shot at the NFL.

“Seeing the jets fly over every day as a kid … that’s all I ever wanted to do. But I was disqualified from flying jets.”

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Unfortunately, his sitting height measurement exceeded Navy limits. If he ever had to eject from a damaged plane, he would not survive the explosive charge. His upper body was too tall.

“They made it very clear. Not all of me was making it out. And the cut-off was my head.”

If you’ve ever wondered why you don’t see many big, tall Navy fighter pilots, there’s your answer.

Pivoting to a new dream

His lifelong dream quashed, Joe weighed other options. “If I can’t fly jets, I need to find something else I love.”

He decided to become the best football player he could – to give himself a shot at playing in the NFL.

“Not that I wasn’t already working at that. But I looked at other long snappers, and even though they played for big-time schools, I realized, ‘I’m better than them.’

“You never go to a service academy thinking you’re going to play in the NFL. … But, hey, if I’m in really good shape, and I’m big and strong, the Navy will be able to benefit.”

Word got around, and NFL scouts took an interest.

One team in particular had its eye on Cardona. Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had a lifelong affinity for Navy. His father, Steve, had coached there for 34 years. In 2015 the Patriots used the 166th pick to draft Cardona in the fifth round. He was only the fourth long snapper ever drafted.

What was draft day like?

“It was surreal, that’s for sure,” Cardona said. ”I expected to be picked in the seventh round. So I was very surprised at how early I got the call.”

When asked how much Belichick’s connections to Navy had to do with that decision, Cardona replied, “Well, it was ultimately Bill’s choice. Having been in the building with him for the past nine years, I know it wasn’t just because I played for Navy. But perhaps I was a little higher on his radar because of it.”

Cardona was the first Annapolis grad to be drafted since 1993.

He’s also the second Navy player to win more than one Super Bowl, joining Roger Staubach in that exclusive club. The Patriots won Super Bowls in 2015, 2017 and 2019 with Cardona as long snapper.

NFL and the Navy – similar cultures

From his first day with the team, Cardona stepped into an organizational culture very similar to the Navy’s.

In February 2022 Cardona told Capital Gazette that a successful mission depends on getting many different parts to work together. “Preparing for a football game from a strategical, operational and tactical level mirrors that of preparing for a mission in the military.”

Cardona points to sports in early civilizations, saying they were “meant to train young men for combat.”

At the same time, he believes the phrase “going to battle” is overused by football players and coaches alike. In the NFL, the stakes aren’t life or death.

Reactions from fellow players

To many people in his football life, the military is the furthest thing from their mind. “They must think you’re on another planet,” I said.

“Teammates ask me about the military all the time – especially when I’m in uniform. They’ll ask what I do, and what military life is like.

“I say, ‘This is what we do, this is our job. It’s what we pour our passion into.’ They can understand that, because football is what they do – it’s their job and their passion. And the military is one of the few other career paths where young people go out and perform dangerous tasks. When they look at soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, a lot of football players see similarities between the two careers.

Balancing football requirements and Navy duty

During his rookie season, Cardona spent his off days working a 24-hour shift as Command Duty Officer (CDO) at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, according to vice.com.

In the Navy, CDOs are given a lighter load the day after their duty. Not so for Cardona, who made the trek back to Gillette Stadium for practice.

A few years later, Cardona was promoted to lieutenant in front of his teammates at Gillette Stadium. WEEI reported that June 6, 2019, was a day Joe Cardona would never forget: that night he also received his Super Bowl LIII ring.

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WEEI asked quarterback Tom Brady about it. “It’s a big commitment Joe’s made,” Brady said. “Joe does it very proudly, and he does a great job [explaining] what it means to him. We see the work he does for the Patriots, but also the work that he does for our country.”

Coach Belichick added, “Joe represents everything we want to stand for and … his real job, defending our freedom, is at the very top of the list.”

He commented on how challenging Joe’s dual life was: ”He was on active duty in Newport; his day job was the Navy and his second job was pro football. Obviously, that’s a lot different from every other player in the room.”

Cardona’s current Navy assignment

As an active reservist, Cardona is a department head in Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Eight, based at Naval Station Newport.

This small boat unit provides security in challenging areas such as the Horn of Africa. For the last two years, Cardona has spent his active-duty time supporting their mission in Djibouti, a country at the confluence of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It is right across the water from Yemen, where the Houthis have been wreaking havoc on commercial shipping.

“U.S. ships are being threatened by ground-to-surface missiles,” said Cardona. “We provide port security and protection from smaller enemy craft.”

Last year, he was able to join his unit in Djibouti and observe the mission firsthand. “I got to go out on the boats, but what I really enjoyed more was seeing my sailors operating so efficiently without me.”

Life after football

I asked what life might be when he hangs up his spikes. He replied, “I don’t really know. Maybe go to business school or take a nice pivot into that world.

“But I’m still qualified to do this Navy job. I could serve in a more active capacity, but we’ll see where I am in life and what steps I have to take. For sure, family will have some role in it as well.”

Cardona continues to serve because he wants to, not because he has to. “I’m already past my minimum obligation; here I am going into year 10.

“I take a lot of pride in what I do. And I’m very lucky to have had meaningful reserve jobs. As long as you’re getting fulfilled by the service, and you’re finding good opportunity – I can definitely see myself staying in.”

“My service time has been pretty special,” he said. “I’ve been to Africa as well as Asia. Got to see Korea. … that was pretty interesting around 2018 …” when North Korea saber-rattled about its nuclear program.

“I was in a Korea-centric unit,” he said. “It was really interesting to see that situation unfold. Being in the conversation in a relevant unit was pretty cool.”

For the most part, people only know Joe as a football player. “While I’ve been very fortunate to represent the Navy on the field, my real Navy jobs take on a much bigger role than just being a PR ambassador.

“At the end of the day, it’s important for me to be doing a real Navy job, as I do now with my reserve unit.”

Cardona also volunteers with veterans organizations and military family groups. “That work is also important to me. Just having the opportunity to represent them – I’ve always taken that seriously.”

In May 2022, Cmdr. Aleksei Razsadin, commanding officer of Navy Reserve Center Newport, told U.S. Naval Reserve magazine, “Humility best sums up Lt. Cardona, despite his key role on a championship-contending, high-profile football team.

“Even during football season, he’s providing leadership at our Center. No one even suspects he’s a football player. They just see an exceptionally skilled Naval Officer who inspires and leads by example.”

The NFL agrees. Cardona was named the USAA 2023 Salute to Service award winner. He was recognized at NFL Honors night, on Feb. 8, for “exceptional efforts … to honor and support the military community.”

Announcements

South Kingstown’s International Museum of World War II to host three free events

Museum address is 344 Main St., South Kingstown. Each event is free, but attendees must register online at Eventbrite. Search for each session at eventbrite.com, “Find Events.” and enter the sessions you would like to attend.

Friday, April 26; 6-8 p.m.– Author Howard Mansfield will perform a reading for his newest release, “I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid about WWII.”

Thursday, May 2; 6-8 p.m. – George Luz Jr. and WWII collector Bill Shea will detail the experiences of soldiers portrayed in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” including Luz’s father, George, who was featured prominently in the film.

Tuesday, May 14; 6-8 p.m. – Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Andy Biggio, author of the bestselling World War II book series “The Rifle,” will discuss his experiences as a former Marine and Boston police officer.

For further details, contact Thom Brassil at (401) 580-9622 or thom@wwiifoundation.org.