CLAIM: President Joe Biden claimed during a commencement speech at the United States Military Academy West Point that he turned down an offer to play football at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
VERDICT: False.
Biden has previously told different versions of this claim to graduates at the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.
In his claim, Biden says he applied to the Naval Academy in order to play football. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by former Delaware Sen. J. Caleb Boggs (R) in 1965. However, the president graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, which makes it unlikely he would have applied to attend the Naval Academy then.
Biden continues to claim that he turned down the offer after finding out that NFL Heisman Trophy winners Joe Bellino and Staubach were playing on the U.S. Naval Academy football team then.
Another issue with this claim is that Staubach graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964, while Bellino graduated in 1961, Fox News reported.
“I was one of ten. I wanted to play football,” Biden told the graduates. “And, the day that I was supposed to go down for the interview, a classmate of mine who was also one of the ten appointed to be chosen from, named Steve Dunning, came to pick me up.”
Total BS! I was USNA Class of 1973. At that time one did not “apply” to play football. The Academy occasionally recruited players but they were few and far between and most of those had to qualify by attending US Naval Academy Preparatory School on Bainbridge for a year before being admitted.
The regular admission pathway was to be appointed by one’s congressman or senator. Of course, sons of Medal of Honor winners were automatically qualified. In those days we did not accept women, either.
What a lying pig.