What"s Army-Navy game like for players? "So loud it"s silent"

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Army linebacker Andrew King is seemingly unflappable, until you start talking about what its really like to play in the Army-Navy game.

Thats when Kings eyes light up a little bit. He remembers the first time he experienced it, in 2013. h**l play in his final game in that rivalry on Saturday, at MT&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

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He can sumup perfectly what its like to see the pageantry of that game unfold as a player.

"It"s a different atmosphere, King told Sporting News. Your whole student section and student body is there. The Army fans are all there. You can feel the presence of people overseas just watching the game at 4 a.m. You know they are rooting for you.

"It"s a different feeling, he added. The crowd is so loud it"s silent. It"s one of those games."

King won the Defender of the Nation Award, presented to him by the Charlotte Touchdown Club in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday. The award honors a player from one of the nations military academies, based on leadership on and off the field. King attended the awards ceremony and left an impression on Touchdown Club member Greg Mercer, whose father was a World War II veteran. Talking with King conjured up those memories of watching Army-Navy every year with his dad.

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Andrew is the total package, Mercer said. Hes great in the classroom and hes tremendous athletically on defense. Hes such a fine example of a great young man, and it makes you feel real good thats the caliber of young men and women that are in our military academies today.

King has 88 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks for Army this season. He spent Monday sitting with the finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award, which went to Alabamas Jonathan Allen. King, however, stood out in his full military uniform, and with good reason.

"Just receiving the Defender of the Nation is a great honor, King said. I"m truly humbled to represent the Military Academy, my family and my friends back home and the army in general. . . . I"m honored in every aspect and trying to lead others to do the same thing."

King has helped lead the Black Knights to a 6-5 record and a postseason berth, but the priority this week is that matchup with Navy. King knew this was the 117th meeting without hesitation.

"It means the world, King said. You have a bunch of guys on both sides just playing for the love of football. Most of us are going to go and out and serve our country after with a five-year commitment. That time when we"re battling each other, and we"re fighting to the end."

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Army also is trying to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Midshipmen. The Black Knights have inched a little closer each of the last three seasons and fell short 21-17 in 2015. King doesnt offer any bold predictions, but he simply says what a win would do for Army.

Its the same thing hes doing for this country.

"It definitely would mean a lot for this program, King said. It would leave us in the right direction."

Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/news/army-navy-game-schedule-time-andrew-king-army-black-knights-navy-midshipmen/1pplrbiry11vh1b5qdf1ohhya9