About Navy Midshipmen
Football program arrived to Navy in 1879 and spent most of its history as an independent team of NCAA Division I FBS. Only since 2014 the Midshipmen became part of American Athletic Conference as a single sport members.
Basketball was established here in 1907 and the Midshipmen are members of Patriot League Conference.
The university colours are Navy blue and gold, the mascot representing the Midshipmen is a live goat and a costumed one that goes by the name of Bill the Goat. There is also a bronze statue of the goat in the north end zone of the Navy Stadium.
The main rivals of the Midshipmen are Army Black Knights, Air Force Falcons and Maryland Terrapins.
The football program have won one national title, in 1926 that included a memorable game between the Midshipmen and Army at the Soldier Field in from of over 110000 people.
The Midshipmen took part in 21 Bowl games starting from a tie in 1923 at Rose Bowl against Washington and finishing to date with a win at Military Bowl in 2015 against Pittsburgh. To date the Midshipmen have a combined record of 10-10-1 in Bowl games and all time record of 682-545-57.
The university produced two Heisman Trophy winners in Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach. Bellino played halfback for few of years for Boston Patriots and he totaled 115 yards and one touchdown.
Staubach, a quarterback who played for Dallas Cowboys for 11 seasons during which he went to 6 Pro Bowls, won Super Bowl VI and XII and was Super Bowl MVP once. He was also NFL MVP once and he was inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Basketball programs clinched two Premo- Porretta titles and one Helms Championships, in pre tournament era. The Midshipmen have taken part in 11 NCAA tournaments and their highest round they got to was the Elite Eight which they reached twice in the fifties.
The Navy won 6 conference tournament championships and 6 conference regular season titles, although 4 of them were co- championships.
The most known Midshipmen that played among the NBA ranks is David Robinson, two time NBA champion with San Antonio Spurs. Robinson was NBA MVP once, block leader once and rebounding leader once. He was nominated 10 times to NBA All- Star game, named NBA Defensive Player of the Year once and four times he earned a mention to All- NBA First Team.
Sports might not to be the first thought of joining the Navy but it is not impossible to become a professional sportsman after being in Navy as the history shows.
