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Southern Alamance's Stephen Glenn signs with Navy at a ceremony Wednesday night.
Times-News
Photo submitted, Times-News
MT. HERMON — Stephen Glenn has known exactly where he wanted to go to college and play football for a few years now.
It began in 2017 during the annual Army-Navy game when the late events of the contest grabbed his interest.
Trailing by a point, Navy lined up to kick a game-winning field goal from 48 yards in the snow.
As time expired, the kick was no good, with Army hanging on to win 14-13.
“Ever since then, I was like, ‘I feel like I would have made that,’ ” Glenn said. “Which every kid says but being realistic you're not probably gonna make that kick.”
Now, Glenn hopes to one day have a similar opportunity. The Southern Alamance punter and kicker signed Wednesday night to continue his playing career at the U.S. Naval Academy.
“The biggest thing for me about Navy was the atmosphere of the program and the sense of brotherhood that it brings,” he said. “And obviously, the career after football. That's something I wanted to go into and I feel like would be good for me as a person and for the career I want to go into."
For Glenn, who wants to pursue a career of either aviation warfare or aviation mechanics, Navy stood out as the perfect place to be.
“Nobody from Southern Alamance has ever been to the Naval Academy,” Glenn said. “I just wanted to play Navy football and the academics part has always been a dream of mine.
“As far as the career standpoint, I don't think there's any other program that can guarantee you a career with that type of income as quick as Naval Academy goes. Especially with the career path I want to go down, I feel like the Naval Academy sets me up for the life I would want to live.”
A greater dedication to his craft has helped Glenn earn this opportunity, Patriots coach Fritz Hessenthaler said.
“It's funny, but he was a kid that I could tell had a live leg when I got here,” Hessenthaler said. “I don't think we kicked at all junior varsity his sophomore year when I got here, but after the season, I grabbed a whole bag of balls, gave it to him and said, ‘Man, I think you got what it takes to become really good kicking and punting and using that left leg of yours. But, you're gonna have to work on it every day.’ And he really hadn't done that. The result of his hard work in the weight room, on the field and in the classroom, he has a 4.0 GPA, gave him this opportunity.”
Competing in special teams camps and competitions helped Glenn elevate his game to a level worthy of college football, he said.
Glenn previously committed to Tulane the week prior to Wednesday's national signing day. That, he said, was part of a calculated decision to get an offer from Navy, where he wanted to be all along.
“Basically, that was a recruiting bluff,” Glenn said. “So my dad told me this: He was in high school, he really liked a girl. What's the best way to get her attention? To get with her best friend. And Tulane is in Navy’s conference. Navy was really close (to offering). They didn't know which guy they wanted to offer. When I committed to Tulane, I put in my bio, ‘recruitment still open.’ So I basically, I just had to get their attention and show them I mean business and it worked out after that.”
Indeed, it worked. He’ll be where he’s long wanted to be.
