A few weeks ago I went to Denver with my buddy from high school for a couple days. He wanted to go to a Broncos game to see Zach Wilson and the Jets play, and that Friday the San Francisco Giants were playing the Rockies so I was sold. We were hoping that CU would have a home game on that Saturday, but unfortunately they were on the road that weekend. The Air Force Academy happened to have a game that Saturday, though, so we figured we’d drive down to Colorado Springs for that game just to have something to do.
I’ll tell you what: the Air Force game ended up being one of the highlights of the weekend.
My cousin just enrolled at the Academy so she got me into the cadet tailgate a couple of hours before the game. Now I haven’t been everywhere, but I’ve been to a lot of places and that was the wildest tailgate I’ve ever been to. Every cadet was in their “greens” (camo pants, boots, green top) as opposed to their dress blues because apparently they had a 6:00 AM bed check that over 95% of the cadets passed so they were rewarded by not having to wear their dress blues.
I’d like to just take a quick moment to acknowledge that it really doesn’t make sense for the Air Force to wear camouflage. I’m pretty sure the bad guys are going to see you coming if you’re in a massive fighter jet, even if you’re blending in with the trees thousands of feet below you
Every squadron had their own little tailgate tent, two Airmen served me some fantastic Korean BBQ at the tent I was hanging out at. There were a couple old trucks, a speedboat, and I believe I also saw a bus that were all spray painted with derogatory phrases directed at Navy and Army. There was a ton of your typical spike ball, water pong (cadets couldn’t drink at the tailgate), throwing around the football and things like that.
They also had some of the craziest things I’ve ever seen at a Tailgate. They had this contraption where they would basically tie two people together and have them run in opposite directions, kind of like a one on one tug-o-war. Before I got there the Cadets were lining two people up at a time and just having them bare-knuckle box each other like their own little fight club.
The tailgate was as insane as anything I’ve ever been to, and that just set the stage for the pre-game activities inside the Stadium. Before the game the band comes to the middle of the field and starts playing while every squadron is announced as they walk onto the field one at a time, until the field is full of cadets at attention
Once everyone is in place the band plays the National Anthem. I’m a sucker for the Star Spangled Banner in general, but watching it played while thousands of cadets saluting the flag is something else, something you have to be there yourself to be able to really feel.
As soon as the National Anthem was done, and I mean like literally seconds after, this blow horn sounds out and the cadets start a mad rush to the student section seats. It took me a few seconds to figure out what was actually happening. I’ve seen videos of schools like Nebraska letting the students in hours before the game and having a mad dash to their seats, but watching air-men stampede from the field to their seats like right before kick off was unreal.
I’m in my head thinking this has been one of the craziest pregame atmospheres I’ve ever been at, and how glad I was that we decided to come down to the game. That’s the moment that people started JUMPING OUT OF AIRPLANES.
Right above the stadium about seven different people jumped out of a carrier jet and came down onto the field one at a time. The last parachuter was the actual Air Force mascot. I’m not the biggest mascot guy in the world, but it was hard not to get fired up watching the Falcon parachute down with a huge American flag with the mountain backdrop behind the stadium.
It’s a weird feeling, because at the end of the day the football team is a good Mountain West program with such a niche fanbase. The stadium was probably about half full, and a lot of those people appeared to be in town for a class reunion. It seemed like a mix between a high school and a college game, as opposed to a Division 1 football game, in all the best ways.
It was such a unique atmosphere and so cool to experience. As soon as you get onto the Air Force Academy campus/property you can just feel that you’re in a special place. At the end of the day it was just a football game between teams from the Mountain West and Conference USA, but it was really so much bigger than that.
Being around the cadets, the alumni, the fans, and even watching the players was sobering in a way. Most of the players at Air Force could have played at other FBS schools, schools that didn’t make you join the military and wake up at 6:00 AM and go through basic training. All those players wanted and choose that lifestyle, they wanted to be a Falcon.
I don’t relate with that at all honestly, I went to BYU and never understood why athletes who weren’t Mormon would come to BYU and give up the lifestyle that comes with being a football player at a regular school. Joining the literal military is a WAY bigger deal than not having facial hair and no girls in your room past midnight. Those players, and all the cadets, are just built differently.
It was so cool just to be around the Academy and in a stadium full of people who wanted to be a part of something so much bigger than themselves. I’m guessing that almost everyone reading this hasn’t been to a game at the Air Force Academy, as a friend I’m imploring you to please add it to your college football bucket list, it’ll change the way you look at college football.
-By Jake Cowden
Photo: Doc Sports