Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
Three Naval Academy players -- running back Eric Kettani and wide receivers Shun White and Tyree Barnes -- signed free-agent contracts with the New England Patriots.
None of the three players will be immediately available because of their military commitments, which for the Naval Academy is currently five years. But the players, and the Patriots, are holding out hope that Navy will fall in line with its military academy brethren and allow potential professional athletes a two-year stint of active duty and six years in the reserves.
All three players gathered a lot of attention from scouts leading up to the draft. In mid-April, the trio participated in a combine-type tryout with the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. A week later, the Baltimore Ravens did drills with the three players. However, the fact that none will be available immediately, and might not be available until 2015, likely scared off some prospective teams despite the fact that the trio was impressive in all of their workouts.
Kettani is the best prospect of three. Kettani was invited to the NFL combine, but was told by the Naval Academy that he couldn't attend because they didn't want to support him pursuing a career in professional football when the academy is supposed to be encouraging active duty. During his individual workouts, Kettani ran the 40-yard dash in around 4.6 seconds, according to the Annapolis Capital.
Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.
