Playing college football on a Division-I level is intense and challenging no matter where a student chooses to play. However, playing college football at a service academy takes a special young man, and Showtime’s upcoming special “A Game of Honor,” gives us an unprecedented look behind the scenes at life as a player at Navy and Army. This week and for the next nine weeks at CBSSports.com there are special webisodes that were produced for online-only and are narrated by Jim Nantz. The webisodes are extremely well done and worthy of taking the time to watch. The full-length film premiers on Showtime on Dec. 21 — just 11 days after the telecast of the Army-Navy game on CBS.
I spoke with Navy associate athletic director Scott Strasemeier about the project.
Why did Navy agree to do this documentary?
Strasemeier » “Well, it all started with our very strong relationship with CBS, the parent company of Showtime. We have had a very long and very good working arrangement. They have broadcast our football games for years, and when they came to us with this idea of really telling the behind-the-scenes story about how special the athletes at the service academies are, we were on board instantly.”
How big a recruiting tool is this documentary?
Strasemeier » “Our head football coach Ken Niumatalolo is a great recruiter, and he sees the importance that both the webisodes and the Showtime documentary have to helping him get the right kids to come to Navy. It is one thing to explain what playing at Navy is like, but the webisodes and the special will actually show everyone what goes on here at Annapolis. The other key point is that I really think it will bring us fans as well. You can’t watch this stuff and not help but admire the kids at both Army and Navy for their dedication to their country.”
The webisodes show some tough behind the scenes combat training.
Strasemeier » Yes, that was shot last summer when most of the training takes place both here at Navy as well as at Army. Part of being a student at the United States Naval Academy is training to become an officer in either the Navy or the Marines. With that responsibility, there is an extremely rigorous training program that is crafted to challenge both the minds as well as the bodies of anyone who is enrolled at Navy. I think that what you will see in the webisodes is a very good representation of that training program.
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!
