On the dotted line: New Brockton senior signs with Army

New Brockton senior tight end Russell Weeks signed his letter-of-intent to accept a scholarship with the Army Black Knights football team during the early signing period for college football on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

Weeks accepted the scholarship offer over others that included Alabama State and a preferred walk-on opportunity at Auburn. Weeks said the choice was hard because he grew up as a diehard Auburn fan.

“Growing up as an Auburn fan it was a hard decision but I came to realize what West Point could do for me in my future,” Weeks bluntly said. “It was a full scholarship and was a great opportunity for me that I couldn’t pass up.”

West Point graduate Lt. Col. Richard Tucker – stationed at Fort Rucker – was at the signing to introduce Weeks and welcome him to “the long gray line.”

“He will join what we call the ‘long gray line,’ which is all of the cadets and graduates that are one family that enter the Army upon graduation,” Tucker said.

Tucker pointed out that every year more than 12,000 applicants apply to West Point, but only 4,000 are nominated by Congress or the president for admittance. In the end, just over 1,000 are admitted to the incoming class. Weeks will be one of those 1,000 in 2020.

“He is in a very selective and elite group of young men and women,” Tucker emphasized. “West Point offers a world-class education and not only the academics but the military and physical side of things, as well.”

Weeks said that the “family atmosphere” at Army when he visited was something that simply won him over.

“I realized what kind of family atmosphere it was up there and the way they just take you in,” Weeks said. “It’s been unreal. Being able to have everybody here and know I have all this support behind me and represent this community has been awesome.”

Weeks said that playing at the FBS level has been a dream of his all of his football career.

“This is what I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little kid,” he said. “Playing big time Division I football is all I could ever dream of.”

The annual Army-Navy rivalry will get a bit more interesting for Coffee County next season as Enterprise’s Chance Warren and New Brockton’s Weeks will be on opposite sides of the field.

“I’m looking forward to that a lot,” Weeks said with a smile. “Both of us being from the Wiregrass, that will be cool.

“I watched him play in high school and I knew he would go up there and be a stud. So, watching that game last weekend was really cool knowing we’ll both be playing in that game this time next year in that atmosphere.”

New Brockton coach Zack Holmes said that his program tries to emphasize and improve three areas of each player; football, school and personally. Holmes said that Weeks exemplifies each of those areas.

“I talk to the kids a lot about their legacy as a New Brockton Gamecock and it’s pretty clear the type of legacy Russell is leaving,” Holmes said. “Russell had a lot of individual success but it took the team to have that success, too. This is a big deal for Russell but it’s a really big deal for our program, too.”