Bennett is making the grade

New London - In the middle of all the yes-sirs and no-ma'ams, all the military duties and high octane academic responsibilities, there is football. The great outlet. A rather fun one, too, at Coast Guard Academy, whose spate with winning in recent seasons has come through innovation and imagination.

But for all of last season, Pat Bennett was reduced to a mere observer, as if standing on the street corner while the parade passed by. A funny thing happened to him on his way to the football field: academics got in the way. Go figure. There's still a place where priorities are a priority.

Bennett learned before last season began that football was verboten. He had failed a class in comparative politics that prohibited him from the privilege of playing a sport.

"It humbled me," he said Tuesday, a much happier day, the first day of 2010 practice. "It humbled me a lot. Maybe at other places, that would never happen. Athletes still find a way to play. Here? Not so much."

Bennett not only endured his politics class, but prevailed as well. He's back to being the all-league cornerback and one of the captains for the Bears, who took to the turf by the Thames on Tuesday to reclaim the Bogan Division of the New England Football Conference, which they could win for the third time in four seasons.

"Pat's goal is the same as mine," Coast Guard coach Bill George said. "Produce officers. Pat made it through NMI (New Mexico Military Institute, a prep school) and he'll make it through here. He has God-given athletic ability that puts him at a high level in Division III. That level (of a player) gets here because he wants to be an officer."

And that's what kept Bennett here. He thought about leaving. He could play at many schools and higher levels. But then, if nothing else, Bennett has learned that tomorrow has this curious habit of showing up. What happens after football?

So he stayed. His dream assignment after graduation in May is a job on a cutter in the Gulf of Mexico, so he can be near his brother, who is attending college in New Orleans.

"I talked to my parents," said Bennett, who hails from Capitol Heights, Md., "and they convinced me it was just a hiccup and to keep working hard."

Bennett went to the Coast Guard games last season, although his absence was noted. Opposing coaches, victimized in previous seasons, would ask if he was out for the year. Bennett knew it was all complimentary. It just didn't feel like much fun.

"It got hard to watch. Unbearable," he said. "I felt like I let my coaches down, my teammates down and myself down."

Bennett, happily, has become an illustration that what is past is merely prologue. He knows why he failed the politics class, acknowledging that there's a difference in doing the work and doing it to the instructor's satisfaction. He knows the feeling of looking almost a hundred teammates in the eye and feeling the guilt. And he knows that whether it ever happens again is entirely up to Pat Bennett.

He'll wear No. 23 at Cadet Memorial Field on Sept. 11 when the Bears begin the season against rival Kings Point. Pat Bennett is a football player again. He's also a more conscientious student. In some places, such thoughts are mutually exclusive. At Coast Guard, they're a necessity.

m.dimauro@theday.com

CGA football schedule

Sept. 11: Kings Point 2:30 p.m.

Sept. 18: at Curry 7 p.m.

Sept. 25: at Mass. Maritime Noon

Oct. 2: Fitchburg State 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 9: Bridgewater State 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 16: at Westfield State 1 p.m.

Oct. 23: at Worcester State Noon

Oct. 30: at Framingham State Noon

Nov. 6: Maine Maritime Noon