Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images The former Navy long snapper will be among several Patriots taking in the Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. The New England Patriots’ home arena will play host to one of the biggest games on the college football calendar this weekend: the annual Army-Navy Game will take place at Gillette Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The 124th meeting between the two service academies is a marquee event as is, but it carries special meaning for some inside the Patriots organization. Among those is long snapper Joe Cardona, the only player on the current roster to have actually appeared in the game. Before joining the Patriots as a fifth-round draft pick in 2015, Cardona spent four years at the Naval Academy. Along the way, he appeared in four meetings between Army and Navy — all ending up as victories for his side. “I definitely get emotional thinking about those days, getting to play with my best friends in the world in those Army-Navy games. It is a special experience,” Cardona told reporters at his locker earlier this week. The 31-year-old has appeared in a combined 153 regular season and playoff games since arriving in New England, including three Super Bowls. In fact, Cardona and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach remain the only graduates of the Naval Academy to earn multiple Super Bowl rings. Nonetheless, for him, facing off against Army carries a special meaning to this day. “I think back to kind of that surreal moment of knowing that this was the biggest game I’d ever play in. That still rings true, despite the three Super Bowls,” Cardona said. “But that was, at the time, and will forever be, the biggest moment for me just because I knew that there were sailors and soldiers and Marines all over the world watching us play — that took that pride despite not being alumni of the service academies. “They took a lot of pride in those of us that were taking the field, representing Navy or representing Army. You have to play tenaciously when you got that many eyes watching you.” Cardona’s ties to the Navy naturally remain strong to this day. Since graduating in 2015 and making the jump to the NFL, he has served both as the Patriots’ long snapper and a member of the Naval Reserve. Through the years, Cardona, who was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the summer of 2019, has hosted over a dozen special re-enlistment and retirement ceremonies as well as free football clinics for military children at military bases all over New England. In 2018, his work was recognized with the Ron Burton Community Service Award. Along the way, his ability to watch the Army-Navy Game in person, however, has been restricted. With the NFL season in full swing in December, he has only been able to visit once. With the Patriots already having played their Week 14 game on Thursday night — a 21-18 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers — Saturday’s game will only be the second one Cardona has been able to attend. “I’ve been fortunate to make it to the game in 2021; it was during our bye week, so I was able to make it down to New York for that,” he said. “So, this will be my second since graduating.” The 2023 Army-Navy Game at Gillette Stadium will be kicked off at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 9. Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/12/9/23 ... -navy-game
