Editing Army–Navy Game (section)

==History==
[[File:Army-Navy 1974 Game Football (1987.577).jpg|thumb|The 1974 Army–Navy Game with the game's final score ([[Navy Midshipmen football|Navy]] 19, [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] 0) on a football]]
[[File:Football play from scrimmage.jpg|thumb|The 2002 Army–Navy Game at [[Giants Stadium]] with Navy in dark and Army in white]]
The first game between [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] and [[Navy Midshipmen football|Navy]] was on November 29, 1890. Since then, the two academies have played annually in all but ten years, and have played in consecutive annual games every season since 1930. Throughout its history, the game has been played in several neutral locations, including [[New York City]] and [[Baltimore]], but it is most commonly played in [[Philadelphia]], which is roughly equidistant from the two academies. Historically [[American football on Thanksgiving|played on the Saturday after]] [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] (a date on which most other major college football teams end their regular seasons), the game is now played on the second Saturday in December and is traditionally the last regular-season game played in [[NCAA Division I]] football.

For much of the first two thirds of the 20th century, both Army and Navy were often national powers, and the game occasionally had [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national championship]] implications. However, as the level of play in college football increased, both academies' stringent admissions standards and height and weight limits made it difficult for them to compete. Since 1963, only the 1996, 2010, 2016, 2017, and 2024 games have seen both teams enter with winning records. Nonetheless, the game is considered a college football institution. The tradition associated with the game has kept it airing nationally on radio since 1930 and on television since 1945. It has remained an over-the-air broadcast even in the age of cable, satellite, and streaming.

The game is especially emotional for the seniors, called "first classmen" by both academies, since it is typically the last competitive regular season football game they will ever play (though they sometimes play in a subsequent bowl game). However, some participants in the Army–Navy Game have gone on to professional football careers. For example, [[quarterback]] [[Roger Staubach]] (Navy, 1965) went on to a [[Pro Football Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] career with the [[National Football League]]'s [[Dallas Cowboys]] that included starting at quarterback in two [[Super Bowl]] victories (including being named the [[Super Bowl MVP|Most Valuable Player]] of [[Super Bowl VI]]), and [[Alejandro Villanueva (American football)|Alejandro Villanueva]] (Army, 2010) was later an [[Tackle (gridiron football position)|offensive tackle]] with the NFL's [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] and [[Baltimore Ravens]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltumoreravens.com/nees/alejandro-villanueva-retires-from-nfl-ravens-steelers-army|work=BaltimoreRavens.com|title=Ravens Place Alejandro Villaneuva on Reserve/Retired List|date=March 9, 2022|accessdate= July 28, 2022|first=Clifton|last=Brown}}</ref>

The game is the last of three contests in the annual Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series, awarded to each season's winner of the triangular series among Army, Navy, and Air Force since 1972. The rivalries Army and Navy have with Air Force are much less intense than the Army–Navy rivalry, primarily due to the relative youth of the USAFA, established in 1954, and the physical distance between the USAFA and the other two schools. The Army–Air Force and Navy–Air Force games are usually played at the academies' regular home fields, although on occasion they have been held at a neutral field.

Since 1901, there have been ten sitting [[President of the United States|presidents of the United States]] to attend the Army–Navy Game. The first was [[Theodore Roosevelt]], who attended the game in 1901 and 1905. [[Harry S. Truman]] attended all but one edition during his eight years in office (1945–1952), missing the 1951 game due to vacation. [[George W. Bush]] and [[Donald Trump]] each attended three times; Bush in 2001, 2004, and 2008, and Trump in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Trump also attended two games as [[President-elect of the United States|president-elect]] in 2016 and 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/12/10/505113639/trump-attends-army-navy-game-as-black-knights-snap-14-year-losing-streak|title=Trump Attends Army-Navy Game As Black Knights Snap 14-Year Losing Streak|publisher=npr.org|date=December 10, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref><ref name="wp1" /> [[John F. Kennedy]] attended both games played during his presidency in 1961 and 1962; he [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|was assassinated]] fifteen days before the 1963 game. Presidents who each attended once include [[Woodrow Wilson]] (1913), [[Calvin Coolidge]] (1924), [[Gerald Ford]] (1974), [[Bill Clinton]] (1996), and [[Barack Obama]] (2011).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Regan |first1=Brett |title=The 10 Sitting Presidents Who Attended the Army-Navy Game |url=https://fanbuzz.com/college-football/potus-army-navy-game/ |website=FanBuzz |date=December 10, 2019 |access-date=March 4, 2021}}</ref><ref name="wp1">{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2016/12/08/donald-trump-will-observe-time-honored-tradition-at-army-navy-game/|title=donald-trump-will-observe-time-honored-tradition-at-army-navy-game|work=washingtonpost.com|date=December 8, 2016|access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref>

On October 25, 2023, it was announced that Army would join Navy in the [[American Athletic Conference]] (AAC) in football effective in the 2024 season. As part of the arrangement, the Army–Navy Game will remain an out-of-conference date for both schools, and still be played on an annual basis. In the event that the teams possess the two highest win-loss records within the AAC, it is conceivable that they would contend in an AAC Championship game, potentially leading to the occurrence of consecutive Army–Navy Games.<ref name="AAC both schools">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38741191/army-set-join-aac-football-sources-say-navy-game-intact|title=Army set to join AAC for football, sources say; Navy game intact|website=ESPN.com|date=October 25, 2023}}</ref>