Navy Lieutenant Joe Cardona’s Touching Salute to Soldiers in On-Field Enlistment Ceremony Steals Patriots’ Hearts

Most football players, after a hard day on the gridiron field, would want nothing more than to rest. But not Joe Cardona. The 31-year-old is the only active player in the NFL who is serving in the Navy, or any arm of the military, for that matter. While on game days, he can be seen sporting the Patriot blue, on other days he proudly dons the colors of the United States Naval Reserve.

He has a strong passion for football, but when he’s not snapping balls, his service in the US Navy is of utmost importance to him. Cardona spends his off days working as Command Duty Officer at the Naval Academy Preparatory School. In the game against the Washington Commanders, which the Pats lost 17-20, there weren’t many moments to be happy about for them. But Cardona provided them with one.

Patriot Cardona makes his team proud

Mike Reiss took to X to share a video of the player, which showed the moment he made his team proud. Reiss is an ESPN reporter and was present at Gillette Stadium when this unfolded. He captioned the tweet, “Patriots LS and Navy Lieutenant Joe Cardona was coming back to the field after halftime for his warmup, and noticed an on-field enlistment ceremony for the U.S. Army and Massachusetts National Guard.”

He was coming out of the locker room for the second half when he witnessed this. Cardona placed his helmet on the ground and stood at attention to honor the members participating in the ceremony. His team might be at the bottom of the AFC East, but he’s been a great addition to the team, rarely having a bad snap.

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Bill Belichick had met him before he was drafted by the New England Patriots during a trip to the White House with his entire team. Ever since he joined the ranks of the six Super Bowl-winning team, Bill has had nothing but praises for him.

Bill Belichick is all praises for the 2015 NFL Draftee

“He’s serving in the Navy, so he does what he’s assigned to do, and within that we’ve been able to work with that schedule to keep him participating on our team,” Bill Belichick told ESPN. Cardona has played 9 seasons with the Pats as part of their special teams unit and was drafted 5th in the 2015 NFL Draft. Having played 113 games for the Pats, he has rubbed shoulders with the likes of NFL GOAT Tom Brady.

Cardona was born and brought up in San Diego, California, and while at the Navy, he was a four-year starter in football as a long snapper. That made him just the fourth pure long-snapper in the league’s history to be drafted. During his tenure there, he has not recorded even a single bad snap, compiling 30-21 stats. A versatile personality, with a unique resume, we’re sure to keep watching what more he has to offer.

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