I'm just pointing out an exception, Opie. Behave.

Nope. The naval academy has a height limit of 6', 6" and Robinson was excepted. Ships have low overheads, short hatches and small compartments. His height would have limited him to shore duty and hurt his promotion chances.

Robinson was 6 ft. 8 in. when he was admitted to the Naval Academy, two inches above the height limit, but received a waiver from the Superintendent of the Academy. Robinson considered leaving the academy after his second year, before incurring an obligation to serve in active duty. He decided to stay after discussing with the Superintendent the likelihood that his height would prevent serving at sea as an unrestricted line officer, hurting his naval career, and might make it impossible for him to be commissioned at all. As a compromise, Secretary of the NavyJohn Lehman allowed Robinson to train for and receive his commission as a staff officer in the Civil Engineer Corps community. As a result, Robinson was commissioned in the Naval Reserves and only had to serve an initial active-duty obligation for two years. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Robinson became a civil engineering officer at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia. He was regularly featured in recruiting materials for the service. Despite the nickname "Admiral", Robinson's actual rank upon fulfilling his service commitment was Lieutenant, Junior Grade.​

Of course, the Navy is interested in PR. Nothing wrong with that. They must pay lip service to their rules, though. Roger Staubach served two years of active service before joining the NFL. He was permitted to become the Naval Academy's first graduate to be commissioned directly into the Supply Corps. You know what job he did in the navy? He played football! He was quarterback of the Pensacola Naval Air Station football team. I saw him in 1968 when his team played Northeast Louisiana State College. Staubach was the whole team--he ran, he passed, he kicked.