Britton gets appointment to play at West Point
Each year, high school football players all over the country put their names on letters of intent to continue their playing careers in college.
But what Anderson Britton signed on to do this past Wednesday goes beyond simply football.
The Heritage senior will be suiting up to kick for an NCAA Division I program next year, but he also made a decision to serve his country as he will be joining the Black Knights of the Hudson at the United States Military Academy later this year.
“It’s great to know that I’m getting the greatest opportunity anyone could ever have and I’m excited to serve my country and play football for one of the best schools in the country,” Britton said. “I’m just really excited for the process as a whole.”
Britton said he had offers from other schools, but just could not turn down the opportunity to play at West Point.
“It was definitely a lot,” he said of the burdensome application process. “It took multiple months, but you just knock it out one thing after the other. It’s a long process, but it’s definitely worth it.”
Head coach E.K. Slaughter called watching Britton sign on with a service academy “an incredible honor for everybody associated with Heritage High School and Heritage football”.
“To have a kid come through your program that’s the caliber of Anderson, it’s well deserved,” he said. “He’s a hard-working kid and you don’t get an appointment just by sending in an application. It’s a long history of him being a certain person and conducting himself a certain way and, because of that, he’s being rewarded with a great honor.
“Ultimately, he’s willing to step in and make the ultimate sacrifice for his country. He’s committing himself to being a soldier to protect our freedoms and it’s amazing and humbling just to think about that. He also gets to play a little football while he’s at it, but I think the greater significance is just his commitment to step in be a soldier for us.”
Britton, who pledged to Army over the summer, signed his letter and received his appointment in front of a number of West Point graduates in attendance, including Maj. Gen. Bill Raines (Ret.)
and LFO Athletic Director Chris Eaves.
“They were just telling me all the things that I’m getting ready to go through because that’s a bunch of people have actually done it,” Britton added. “So I kind of know what to look forward and what to expect.”
Graduates at West Point have a commitment to serve at least five years in the United States Army.
The senior was a first team All-Region (7-AAAA) selection this past season after making 21 of 24 extra points and 5 of 7 field goals with a long of 43 yards. He is ranked in the top 40 of kickers in the Class of 2022 and is a five-star recruit by Chris Sailer Kicking, who ranks him No. 4 in the state.
“I’m excited to play football and hopefully I’ll be a
really good football player up there,” he added. “I want to major in engineering, so those are the goals for when I get there.”
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring some positive energy and I’ll gain some good friendships along the way.”
Slaughter added that Britton would be a success at West Point just because of the person that he is.
“Number one, he’s a
hard-working kid, and he’s got great character,” Slaughter said. “He’s a good kid, he works hard, he knows what he wants and I think he’s going to go get that.”
Britton joins Ryan Craft as the only two Heritage student-athletes to ever sign with a service academy. Craft, a multi-sport athlete, signed with Navy shortly before graduating from Heritage in 2019.