The West Point graduate will be rooting for the Black Knights on Saturday.
BALTIMORE — It’s billed as “America’s Game” and with good reason.
Nothing stirs the patriotic souls of this country quite like Army-Navy.
The two military academies meet in late fall annually and it has produced many memorable moments by great players and great coaches. They enter the field of play as combatants and leave it as comrades in arms. They represent some of America’s brightest minds and when we engage in armed conflict, they are the ones leading our armed forces — generals and admirals.
Over the years, all 50 states have sent representatives to both West Point and Annapolis. This year, Las Vegas is represented by Sebastian Shannon, a senior running back for Army who played at Bishop Gorman HS.
But there’s always a Vegas-flavor to Army-Navy thanks to the alumni from the two service academies. And one of the more well-known alums, Bill Foley, knows what this game means. It is deeply personal for him.
“It’s the most important game of the year,” Foley said. “Whether you’re at West Point or Navy, it’s beaten into you — ‘Beat Navy’ or ’Beat Army’. This game overwhelms everything else.”
Foley, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights who served at West Point from 1963-1967 and left as a captain, remains connected to the academy. His name is on one of the athletic buildings adjacent to iconic Michie Stadium, which is undergoing a $170 million facelift or, as they refer to it at West Point, it’s a “Preservation Project.”
“When you win, there’s no better feeling,” Foley said. It’s hard to describe because unless you attended either academy, you don’t really know what it means.”
And while Foley never took the field of play for the Black Knights, he has vivid memories decades later from his time at West Point and attending Army-Navy contests over the years.
“In my time there, we won a couple, lost a couple and tied one,” said Foley. “We should’ve beaten Navy in ’63 when they had (Roger) Staubach. We had the ball at like the 2 or the 3 late and our guy (quarterback Rollie Stichweh) got stopped and we weren’t able to get another play off because a Navy guy was laying on one of our guys and time ran out.
“We also went on a 13-year cycle where we didn’t win and it was the most awful feeling. But this game overwhelms everything else if you go to either West Point or Annapolis.”
He has achieved personal greatness in sports. When the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023, Foley arranged for the team to visit West Point with the Cup. The players and coaches got to have lunch with the entire corps of cadets and tour the campus. It was a proud moment for Foley.
“I wanted our guys to see what a special place it is and see how dedicated the cadets are,” Foley said of what remains one of the best moments of his life in arranging the visit to West Point with the Cup.
As for Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium, Foley is optimistic. Both teams are bowl eligible so there will be more football to play following the 126th Army-Navy Game. But that can wait.
“They’re probably the more skilled team,” Foley said of the Midshipmen. “But it’s a tossup. Army’s lost some close games this year it should’ve won.”
Whatever the outcome, he will be watching from Las Vegas, where if it is ever decided to move Army-Navy West again, would be an ideal place to hold the game inside Allegiant Stadium.
Foley would still love to see the Golden Knights return to West Point and face yellow West Point graduate Vinnie Viola’s Florida Panthers outdoors at Michie Stadium once it has completed the Preservation Project.
“I’d like to get that done if possible,” he said. “I think it would be an amazing setting for a (outdoor) game.”
Category: General Sports
