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Brett Toth will soon be able to play for the Philadelphia Eagles thanks to a recent military waiver granted Friday.
ESPN first reported the former Army offensive tackle signed a three-year deal with the Eagles. In June, President Trump signed a memo outlining a path for service academy grads to defer their active-duty service temporarily to play professionally.
According to CNN, acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy signed the exception for Toth on Thursday night. CNN also reported that the Army is expected to “assign Toth to a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps unit in the Philadelphia area to work as an instructor” when he isn’t doing football work with the Eagles.
Trump first floated the idea publicly back in May when he presented Army football with the Commander-In-Chief's trophy. It later developed into a larger conversation surrounding which comes first for service academy graduates, sport or service?
Just waiting on the policy to publish ⏳ https://t.co/1tHlVrMwBf
— Brett Tóth 7⃣8⃣ (@bretttoth78) June 27, 2019
Toth, who graduated from West Point in 2018 as a nuclear engineer, has completed one year of active-duty service. He’s now the second service academy grad this year to join an NFL team following this updated policy. Air Force academy graduate Austin Cutting was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.
In MLB, the Boston Red Sox drafted former Naval Academy pitcher Noah Song and the Miami Marlins drafted Air Force’s Nic Ready. Both have been playing minor league baseball this summer.
Toth was Army’s starting right tackle in 2017, a season in which the Black Knights went 10-3, won the CIC and won a bowl game. He was named to the watch list for the Outland Trophy and was named to the AP’s All-Bowl Team.
If the 6-foot-6 native of Charleston, S.C. makes the Eagles 53-man roster for the upcoming NFL season, he will earn a salary of at least $495,000, the minimum for an undrafted rookie with an active roster spot.