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Sullivan Selected for Initial Black Lion Award - Senior Defensive End Earns Award in Honor of Don Holleder

Dec. 2, 2004

WEST POINT, N.Y. - On Wednesday, Army head coach Bobby Ross announced the winner of what he considers to be one of the most prestigious and important awards his coaching staff will hand out this year, and it wasn't any most valuable player honor.

It was the Black Lion Award, presented in memory of former Army football great Don Holleder, who was killed in combat in Vietnam on Oct. 17, 1967, and the men of the 28th Infantry Regiment (nicknamed the Black Lions), who died with him that day. Ross announced that senior defensive end Will Sullivan would be the first Army player to earn the award.

Holleder was an All-American end as a junior at West Point in 1954 and appeared headed for an even more successful senior campaign before head coach Earl "Red" Blaik approached him the following spring and asked if he would begin learning the quarterback position for the 1955 season. Blaik knew that Holleder had never played the position before, but felt his team's best all-around athlete could learn to handle the ball well. He also wanted someone to provide a match for Navy's brilliant quarterback, George Welsh, so that Army would have a decent chance to beat the Mids at year's end.

Blaik left the final decision to Holleder, with the provision that if he became truly unhappy with the experiment, he could return to his end position. Holleder agreed, foregoing All-America honors and the personal notoriety that it brought.

The "Great Experiment" or "Blaik's Folly," as it became known was not well received by the Academy or its administrators. While Holleder struggled at times at quarterback during the uneven season, he engineered a season-ending 14-6 upset of heavily favored Navy.

Holleder would go on to a decorated military career before that fateful day in October 1967.

On that day, a savage battle between a 1st Infantry Division battalion and the Viet Cong was fought in a thick jungle about 40 miles north of Saigon. Holleder, second in command, assumed control of the troops after battalion commander Col. Terry de la Mesa Allen Jr. was killed during the early stages of the skirmish. Holleder and several other solders boarded a helicopter and flew over the area of conflict. After viewing wounded in the field, Holleder ordered the copter to land. Holleder raced into the heart of the battle in an attempt to recover the wounded men, but was killed by enemy sniper fire.

The Black Lion Award was first established in 2001, the 100th anniversary of the forming of the 28th Infantry Regiment - the famed Black Lions of Cantigny, who were the first Americans to see combat duty oversees, engaged in World War I. It has been presented to high school and college players of various teams since that time, but never before to an Army football player.

The award is intended to go to the player "who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder: leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself."

Sullivan epitomizes those traits. At 6-3, 255 pounds, he has consistently played against players 50 pounds his senior, splitting his time between the defensive end and defensive tackle positions.

A two-year starter, Sullivan registered 45 tackles and led the Black Knights with three quarterback sacks and 13 tackles for loss a year ago. He is in the midst of another highly productive campaign, recording 44 tackles, including 10 for loss, two quarterback sacks and two interceptions. He registered perhaps his finest career showing against USF, finishing with a career-best 10 tackles, including three for loss, one quarterback sack and one fumble recovery to help lead Army's 42-35 defeat of the Bulls.

The Atlanta, Ga. (Marist School), native stands in second place on Army's career sacks list with 8.5, three shy of the Academy standard. He also ranks tied for fourth on the Black Knights' career tackles for loss list with 28.

Sullivan will wear the Black Lion patch on his uniform during Saturday's showdown with Navy. He is slated to make his 24th consecutive start and the 29th of his Army career in the contest.

The award is presented with the approval of the 28th Infantry Association and with the permission and approval of Hollder's former wife, Caroline.

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Profiles in courage provide true blueprint for leadership - by Mike Sielski - Bucks County Courier-Times, Levittown, Pennsylvania - www.phillyburbs.com

PHILADELPHIA - An hour after he had to hear the closing strains of that damn Navy alma mater, Will Sullivan - 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, his crew-cut color an Irishman's red - was still fighting back tears when he called out to Navy coach Paul Johnson in the catacombs of Lincoln Financial Field.

Ron Artest instigates a fight with fans and uses his infamy to sell his rap CD. Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds lie to the public but sing to a grand jury about their steroid use. But the tear-streaked face of America's greatest football game just had to stop the winning coach Saturday and wish him well.

"You're a good player," Johnson whispered into the ear of Sullivan, the Army senior defensive end. "And you have been for the last two years."

The seconds had ticked down so haltingly here on Navy's 42-13 victory, on Sullivan's last game before duty likely will send him to a desert in the Middle East. He already has been assigned to the Armor branch of the U.S. military, and just last week President Bush decided to deploy 12,000 more troops to Iraq, with more certain to go soon.

"It definitely crosses your mind every day," Sullivan said. "You do your best to focus on what's at hand - football, schoolwork, your military responsibilities. But you do think about it every day, especially watching it. We have friends over there."

He had friends and brothers watching him at the stadium and around the world Saturday, hoping for a small miracle, but Army and Navy are so far apart now in terms of talent. Whatever leadership lessons Sullivan has learned from football have come though the toughest times for his program. With their win Saturday, the Midshipmen are 9-2 and on their way to a bowl game later this month. But the Black Knights were 5-41 over these last four years, including three consecutive losses to the Middies, three times the Navy alma mater has been the last sound a senior class of Cadets has heard on a football field.

"Football is the best leadership tool," Sullivan said. "The three best schools in the country are the service academies, and of those three, Army is the best. It leads the way. There's so much pride in playing Army football. Our goal the last four years has been to return the glory and history to Army football.

"As much as I could have learned from winning, unfortunately I had to learn from losing. Every day, you've got to find a way to get better."

He paused, his voice catching in his throat.

"I wanted to win for my brothers and my coaches," he said. "It hurt like hell."

Every year, this game arrives when we need it most, when we need to be washed clean of the sludge that always seems to stain college football and sports in general. While the Army and Navy players stood and sang together on the sod of Lincoln Financial Field, Urban Meyer and University of Utah athletic director Chris Hill were issuing statements explaining how the Utes would recover from the bidding battle for Meyer between Florida and Notre Dame.

"The hard thing," Meyer said in his statement, "is leaving."

With those words, Meyer leaves for a reported seven-year, $14 million contract to coach the Gators, a quadrupling of his salary at Utah. Yes, it had to be so hard to leave, to cut out on his contract after only two seasons, just as it had to be so hard for Artest to charge into the stands in Auburn Hills and for Giambi and Bonds to pump themselves full of poison. These coaches and athletes talk so much about making a commitment, they should have seen these players Saturday, listened to them after the game, and then maybe understood what commitment really is.

"Hopefully, the Army-Navy game can serve as a [different] example," said Navy fullback Kyle Eckel, who rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown Saturday. "Hopefully, people who watched this game saw the different way sports can be."

Down the hall from where Eckel was speaking, Will Sullivan was still wearing his Army football uniform, a striking patch emblazoned on his jersey's right shoulder. He had started his 25th straight game, and only one player in the program's history has more quarterback sacks. But this Cadet's career was over now, his service to his country only beginning, and it took all he had to hold back the tears.

On Wednesday, his coaches had selected him as the program's first recipient of the Black Lion Award, given in honor of Capt. Don Holleder, an Army All-American killed in action on Oct. 17, 1967, in the jungle of Vietnam.

When he was asked what qualities the award commemorates, Will Sullivan touched his hand to the patch - a black lion stitched on a white background - and listed them. He never looked up.

Teamwork ...

Character ...

Selflessness ...

"I'm not sure what else," he said softly.

What else could there be?

Reprinted By Permission - Mike Sielski - Bucks County Courier-Times - You can write to Mike Sielski : msielski@phillyburbs.com

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Army's Sullivan winner before game, if not during

By Kevin Gleason - Times Herald-Record - MIddletown, New York

Philadelphia &endash; Army defensive end Will Sullivan requested the media only ask questions about the award he received recently. He wasn't trying to be rude. Sullivan just couldn't bring himself to talk about the game.

Sullivan's playing career came to an end in Army's 42-13 loss to Navy yesterday. He was on the verge of tears afterward.

"I've played sports my whole life so ..." Sullivan said, trying to hold back the tears. "I wanted to be the best I could be on the football field. And I want to be the best soldier."

Sullivan earned the Black Lion Award initiated by the 28th Infantry Regiment. It's the same division represented by Don Holleder, who played from 1953-55 and died in combat in Vietnam in 1967.

Holleder was an All-American defensive end as a junior in 1954. He had never played quarterback when then coach Red Blaik, in need of a signal-caller, asked Holleder to fill the void. Holleder led Army to a 6-3 record his senior season, including a 14-6 win over Navy.

The medic who held Holleder as he died visited West Point recently to help explain the award. The honor symbolizes such attributes as selflessness, courage and pride.

Sullivan became the first football player to earn the award. An Army player will be honored each year. He wore the Black Lion patch that will be worn by future recipients.

"I wore it with a lot of pride today," Sullivan said. "It means a lot to me. Unfortunately, things didn't work out."

Reprinted by permission -  kgleason@th-record.com  

Former Marist athlete named Army's 2004 Black Lion

Dunwoody (Georgia) Chronicle

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 2:15 PM EST

Will Sullivan, son of Ed and Clare Sullivan, and 2001 graduate of Marist School, was chosen to be the first West Point football athlete to receive the prestigious Black Lion Award. The award is presented in memory of former Army football great Don Holleder who was killed in Vietnam in 1967 while serving with the Black Lions of the 28th Infantry Regiment.

The citation reads: "Dedicated to the memory of Don Holleder and the men of the 28th Infantry regiment - The Black Lions - who gave their lives for their country in the battle of Ong Thanh, Vietnam, on October 17, 1967. This award is presented to that football player, high school or college, who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder: leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and-above all- an unselfish concern for his team ahead of himself."

Sullivan, a defensive end, was the captain of the Marist football team his senior year and helped his team make the state quarterfinals. He was named All-County, and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian athletes and a religious retreat leader. As a West Point freshman, he was one of 10 freshmen to win a varsity letter. As a sophomore, he played in all 12 games. In his junior year, he started all 13 games as an undersized defensive tackle, and started as a defensive end for all games in his senior year. He was named third team All-Conference USA defensive end at the end of 2004. The Army Football Club is preparing a permanent display for the Black Lion Award in the football locker room.

The Atlanta native stands in second place on Army's career sacks list with 8.5, just three sacks short of the Academy standard. He also ranks tied for fourth on the Black Knight's career "tackles for loss" list with 28.

Sullivan wore a Black Lion regimental patch on his uniform during the Army-Navy game in December. When asked what qualities the award commemorates, Sullivan replied, "Teamwork, character, selflessness. To receive this award and represent those guys who gave their hearts on the real battlefield meant a lot, especially against Navy."

Sullivan's father, Ed, said, "I am very proud of Will and his winning this Black Lion Award. He is a very well focused young man, with intense loyalties. When he was offered his choice of the three military academies, he chose the Army because of their outstanding record of alumni successes."

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Will Sullivan - by Andrew Gross - New York Journal News -

Major honor: Army senior defensive end Will Sullivan wore a patch to mark his winning the prestigious "Black Lion'' award this week, something coach Bobby Ross considers more important than team MVP.

 

The award is in honor of Maj. Don Holleder, an All-America defensive end as a junior in 1954 who agreed to switch to quarterback the following season. He led Army to a 6-3 record and a 14-6 win over Navy. A member of the 28th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Black Lions, Holleder was killed in Vietnam in 1967 trying to rescue U.S. soldiers under fire.

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Army senior DE Will Sullivan earns first Black Lion Award

Story and photo by Spc. Eric S. Bartelt, Leisure Editor, Pointer View

Senior starting defensive end Will Sullivan was emotional after the 42-13 loss to Navy for many reasons, but he was truly choked up after the game when talking about the Black Lion patch he wore Saturday.

Three days before the Army-Navy contest, Army head coach Bobby Ross announced Sullivan as the first Army player to wear the patch, which will now be known as the Black Lion Award.

The award is presented in the memory of former Army football great (Maj.) Don Holleder (USMA 1966), who was killed in action in Vietnam Oct. 17, 1967, and his men of the 28th Infantry Regiment (nicknamed the Black Lions), who died with him that day.

The Black Lion Award's intent is to go to a player who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder, leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice and, above all, an unselfish concern to put the team ahead of himself.

"(This award) best symbolizes Don Holleder, who was a tremendous student-athlete that gave up an All-American ranking (as an end) as a junior to become a quarterback as a senior -- it's symbolic of being a team player," Ross said. "We have a bunch of players that could have won the award, but Will is a very deserving young man."

Sullivan recorded a sack of Navy senior quarterback Aaron Polanco during the game and has played solid during the year, but much like Holleder, Sullivan made the transition from tackle to end during the past year.

He was overcome by emotions after the game talking about what the patch meant to him and as a history major knows how hard the 28th Regiment fought in Vietnam and was honored to wear the patch for them.

"Maj. Holleder was a great man and he fought with a lot of great men in Vietnam with the 28th Regiment," Sullivan said. "To receive this award and represent those guys who gave their hearts on the real battlefield, it meant a lot for me to wear the patch -- especially against Navy."

An Army senior will wear the patch during every Army-Navy game from now on. The team staff, including the strength staff, assistant coaches and operations officers picked Sullivan.

Holleder, who was one of the most versatile athletes Army has ever fielded, played hockey, basketball as well as football.

He graced the cover of a 1955 Sports Illustrated during his senior year where he changed positions because head coach Earl "Red" Blaik felt his team's best chance of winning was with Holleder leading the team under center although he had never played the quarterback position before then.

Before going on to a decorated military career, he engineered a season-ending 14-6 upset of a heavily favored Midshipmen team to finish out the 1955 season.

At 6'3", 255 pounds, Sullivan has epitomized Holleder's traits by playing against opponents who are at least 50 pounds heavier than him while splitting time between the end and tackle position.

The Atlanta native finished out his Army career with 9 1/2 sacks and 29 tackles for loss.

Although the game didn't turn out in Army's favor, Sullivan was glad to honor someone he's admired since his plebe year.

"I learned about him my plebe year watching tapes before the Army-Navy game," Sullivan said. "Every time I go into the Holleder Center I see his picture and read his story -- it means a lot.

"I wore the patch with a lot of pride today, unfortunately the outcome isn't what I wanted, but I still wore the patch with pride," he added.