Oct. 14, 2005

The first time Jeremy Chase attended a Navy football game, he was clearly out of place.

And for that matter, so too was the rest of his family, which had traveled to Philadelphia for the 1999 Army-Navy classic.

At the time, Jeremy's older brother, Nate, was at Veterans Stadium as an invited guest - a high school recruit contemplating his collegiate future and, possibly, a career in the military.

Not that Nate - or his kid brother - weren't cut out for an Academy.

It's just that, having been known as Commodores at Maury High in Norfolk, Va. - where so many family friends had strong ties to the Navy - they seemed to be sitting in the wrong section of that old concrete bowl along Broad Street.

"We were sitting on the Army side," Jeremy remembers. "(Nate) was being recruited by West Point. I was thinking if he was going to an Academy, it would be West Point.

"My dad (Greg) felt like a traitor sitting on the Army side."

Able to recall that December afternoon six years ago and chuckle over the irony of it, Jeremy is about to conclude his own college career, while Nate is off to serve and Greg has absolutely no need to explain any allegiances to the folks back in Tidewater.

As it turned out, his boys were bound for Annapolis.

"Right after that game, within the next week or so, one of the Navy coaches came by to see my brother," Jeremy says of a visit by then assistant Brian Norwood.

By the time Army-Navy returned to Philly after being staged in Baltimore in 2000, Nate was a sophomore defensive tackle for the Midshipmen.

And the same youngster who'd been in the stands surrounded by West Pointers, was on the field producing an interception of the Black Knights' Chad Jenkins.

Unfortunately, it remained one of the few football milestones in a career cut short by ankle and knee injuries.

Still, before graduating among the top third of his class in May 2004 and deploying for the Persian Gulf aboard the guided-missile destroyer, the USS Barry, Nate made a contribution that endures to this day.

He set an example for his kid brother.

"Nate had a pretty big influence on me coming here," Jeremy says of an impact that became even more important after arrival on The Yard. "I definitely had my brother help me a lot when I was a plebe. "He pretty much told me it gets better every year and that's definitely true. You start out as a plebe and you're at the bottom of the totem pole. You don't let things get you down."

However low on the ladder of Academy life, Jeremy very quickly moved to the top of Navy's depth chart, starting at linebacker in four of the final five games of his freshman season.

Then as a sophomore - while the Mids were performing one of the most remarkable transformations in college football history - Chase was reinventing his own role with a move to defensive end.

"He was fighting to keep weight off all the time and at (outside linebacker) he was probably dead average or a step slow," says head coach Paul Johnson. "If (Jeremy) moved up to the line, I thought he could be a better athlete than most of the guys, because he could run, change direction and do some (athletic) stuff."

Chase went from standing on his feet off the line to planting his hand on the turf up front. Initially, he was employed mostly in what appeared as obvious passing situations.

"Coach (Buddy) Green told me he was going to start using me in the nickel defense," Chase said, reflecting on the moment he was told of his position switch by the Mids' defensive coordinator.

"I was sad because I really liked linebacker. But (in retrospect) I have no regrets about the decision."

Nor do his coaches, including Dale Pehrson, the veteran Navy assistant who educated Chase on defensive line play - however obvious or intricate.

"Coach Pehrson taught me how to keep pads down, where to put my hands, how to read the offense," says Chase, who also learned how to study an opponent on video to beat him on Saturdays. "I definitely watch (my opponent), whether I put my hands out or keep my hands in.

"Your pass rush moves will change for every team you play. You study (tape) to determine which moves will work."

Despite any early anxiety - especially when defending against the run - Chase put his preparation to practice without much difficulty.

"(Jeremy) adapted pretty easily," says Pehrson, now in his 10th season at the Naval Academy. "We broke him in slowly. He was a pass rusher on long downs first and he grew into playing more against the run. It didn't seem to take him too long, it was more of a natural transition.

"Mentally, once he realized he was going to get a lot more playing time (at defensive end) and it was better for the team with him at that position, it was a pretty easy move."

After totaling four sacks as a sophomore, Chase literally grew into his new role. He reported to preseason camp weighing roughly 250 pounds before a junior season spent as a full-time starter.

Four games into the fall, against Vanderbilt, Chase recovered a fumble to help the Mids defeat those other Commodores, 29-26, and remain unbeaten entering an encounter with Air Force.

Helping the Mids repeat as Commander-In-Chief's champions before a national television audience on a Thursday in Colorado Springs, it was an evening both exhilarating and excruciating.

With the Falcons ahead, 3-0, and facing 3rd-and-goal from Navy's one-yard line early in the second quarter, Chase slashed past the line of scrimmage to tackle quarterback Shawn Carney.

A loss of two yards proved to be the difference between three points and six, as Air Force opted for a field goal on the very next snap. In the end, the Mids won by three, 24-21.

But twice that night, Chase dislocated his shoulder. After the first instance, Navy's head trainer, Dr. Jeff Fair, fit the humerus back into its socket and Chase returned to play through severe pain.

After his shoulder popped out place a second time, team doctors were forced to "reduce" the injury and Chase was relegated to the sideline throughout the fourth quarter.

For the rest of the season, he dealt with the injury itself as well as the discomfort of wearing a canvass harness that restricted breathing and, at times, made it unbearably hot to be on the field.

In the penultimate game of the regular campaign, a rout of Rutgers, Chase suffered another dislocation - one that, he says, "took 20 minutes to set (the shoulder) in place."

As a result, last January in Bethesda, Chase underwent re-constructive surgery to repair a torn labrum - a procedure that would lead to six laborious months to regain range of motion and rebuild strength.

"(Jeremy) worked as hard as anyone I've seen," said Fair, a trainer for more than three decades who oversaw Chase's rehabilitation. "He never missed a day."

Before ever thinking about lifting a single pound in the weight room, Chase spent a month working to expand movement. Later, with exercises designed to form layers of muscle around the cartilage in his shoulder, Chase sat out spring practice.

Nonetheless, when teammates were asked to select a defensive captain for 2005, their consensus was no surprise. Not even for the choice himself.

"I wouldn't say it was much of a surprise, just because there are not many seniors on defense," joked Chase, who was no less honored.

Nor was his brother.

"(Nate) was pretty excited," Jeremy says. "He told me how great an honor it was, that I should be proud of myself, that he was proud of me."

The two brothers formed an unbreakable bond - extraordinary even for siblings - during an early childhood spent in foreign countries, where their parents served as religious missionaries.

And as one would imagine, they've remained close, especially when Nate sailed into harm's way.

"I'd always get e-mails telling me what he was doing," says Jeremy, who is unsure of which branch of service he'll select this spring, yet is determined to serve. "I'd just pray that he'd be alright.

"I won't let that deter me from what I will do. Obviously there's a war on terror and you want to get out there and feel like you're doing your part for your country."

First, though, he will do his part this fall as a soft-spoken senior - prone to lead with actions rather than verbiage - to help the Mids sustain their recent success.

Doing so will require a strong finish by someone who started the season one of 50 nominees for the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, an award presented by the Football Writers of America to the national defensive player of the year.

"I think he can still play a lot better," says Pehrson, who also notes that as a person, there aren't many better than Chase. "He's just a real good kid. He's a real team leader and an excellent midshipman.

"You never have to worry about him, he gets good grades and he's a real pleasure to coach."

Which is why there's great cause to be thankful that this December, when the Chase family returns to Philadelphia, they'll be sitting where they've always belonged.