Biography
As a youngster growing up in the early 1960s in Rockaway, N.J., General Ray Odierno used to watch Morris Hills High School football practice from his family’s yard. About a decade later, on that same high school football field, he played tight end his senior season for an undefeated team.
“I fell in love with sports of all types,” said Odierno who caught a key touchdown pass that season in an opening 14-7 victory over powerhouse Montclair, N.J. “But specifically football, it had quite an impact on me.”
The 59-year-old Odierno, the 38th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, accepted the NFF’s Distinguished American Award for a military career that spans more than 37 years. Odierno credits football for shaping his career and deeply appreciates the total support of his wife, Linda, and his three children Anthony, Katie and Mike, who endured numerous separations, deployments and countless moves throughout his military career.
“Football teaches you things very early on that are important lessons in life, but specifically lessons in the military,” said the 6-foot-5 Odierno. “One is, in order to be a football player you have to have mental and physical toughness. You have to be able to dedicate yourself and work hard to constantly improve yourself and team ... It is all about depending on the person to your right and to your left. This is absolutely the same in the military where you have to depend on each other.”
Fifty years ago, the direction of his life turned on the 1963 Army-Navy football game, which was delayed a week after the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Navy, led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, won a pulsating 21-15 game at old Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia.
“I remember watching that game and what an impact that game had on me as a young man because of what that represented in a time of crisis in this country,” Odierno said. “Also, I related to the players. I specifically related to the players at Army, specifically Rollie Stichweh, who was the quarterback, and was really inspirational. I felt the camaraderie and teamwork and the dedication and the special nature of this game and what it meant to our country.”
About eight years later, when Army coaches were in his living room recruiting him to play football at West Point, Odierno harkened back to the 1963 game. “I wanted to play in the Army-Navy game,” Odierno said. “That was very important to me. I learned later that West Point was much more than that. It was probably the best decision I ever made.”
As it turned out, Odierno never played in an Army-Navy football game. After working his way up to second string on the depth chart the spring of his freshman year, he suffered a significant knee injury that required surgery three days before the spring game. The following fall camp, as a sophomore, his knee was injured a second time. After deciding his football career was over, he transitioned to baseball, where he earned three letters, and was a starting pitcher his junior and senior seasons for the Black Knights.
Odierno graduated from West Point in 1976 and also holds two master’s degrees from North Carolina State and the Naval War College and two honorary doctorates from North Carolina State (Humane Letters) and from the Institute of World Politics (Laws).
“Football gave me an opportunity that I would never have had,” Odierno said. “It gave me the opportunity to attend one of the finest institutions in the world, the United States Military Academy ... So it opened doors for me and gave me the ability to use West Point as a tool to develop me as a leader, to develop me as a person, to develop me educationally. That really helped me to be successful later in life. It gave me opportunities.”
He used the West Point background to forge a career in the military that has included service in Albania, Germany, Kuwait and finally Iraq. He was an executive officer for operations in Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the 1990s.
The highlight of his career may have come in December 2003. As commander of the 4th Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Odierno oversaw troops that captured Saddam Hussein outside of Tikrit. The capture of the former Iraqi dictator prompted Odierno to say at the time: “It was ironic that he was in a hole in the ground across the river from the great palaces he built using all the money he robbed from the Iraqi people ... caught like a rat.”
He has received countless decorations, including four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Army Distinguished Service Medals, the Defense Superior Service Medal, six Legions of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal.
His father, an all-state football player in the 1930s, also served in the Army during World War II; his father-in-law was in the Navy on D-Day; and his son Anthony, a retired captain and West Point graduate, served in Iraq.
From 1972-2004, Odierno’s parents did not miss an Army home football game. The General’s family, his wife Linda’s family and family friends tailgated at the games during that period. He still follows Army games wherever he may be, often taping the television games or watching the American Forces Network when deployed overseas.
“I have incredible highs and lows watching the Army-Navy Games,” Odierno said. “It has been a rough period over the last 11 years (through the 2012 season). It has been a long, hard road for Army fans. We are now in the process of rebuilding the program where I believe we are now once again competitive with Navy and Air Force.”
As a third generation American of a family of Italian descent, Odierno says his grandfather never would have dreamed his grandson would have received this NFF Award. Odierno along with this year’s Gold Medal winner, Roger
Goodell, announced a collaborated effort in 2012 between the military and the NFL to combat brain injuries by sharing information and resources.
“For me this award is about all the sacrifices and dedication of the many soldiers that have supported me,” Odierno said. “That is who has made me successful with my life — these great soldiers who have dedicated themselves to their country.”
