Annapolis fans will see more than strength on the field this weekend because the Navy football team is turning its annual game into a living tribute to service and sacrifice.
Landon Robinson, a standout nose tackle described as a “freak” for three straight years, will wear a patch honoring the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, specifically the Chupacabras, during the Army-Navy showdown in Baltimore.
The patch, stitched to his shoulder, carries the unit’s devilish lizard motif and the regimental motto Night Stalkers Don’t Quit, a message that resonates with the entire military family.
Robinson’s selection of the patch ties a personal thread to a broader ceremony. The crew of four special ops aviators from the Chupacabras were killed in September when their MH-60 crashed near Joint-Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Among them was Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Kraus, 39, who had deep family ties to the Naval Academy and the football program. The uniformed world often tests its best with sudden losses, and this gesture brings those losses into the public eye in a way that leaves a lasting impression.
The patch Robinson wears is more than a symbol of military prowess; it is a statement about lineage and duty. Navy and Marine Corps units from around the world contribute patches as the players acknowledge the service of others.
Some patches come from alumni who reach out to say thank you, while others come from families who want to honor service members current or former. The result is a patchwork of gratitude that crosses service lines and generations.
Junior safety Giuseppe Sessi will wear the patch of the USS Truxton, a guided-missile destroyer in which his cousin, Carlos Muniz, serves as a Navy petty officer. “I was emailing him, and he would respond, like, a week later, and I’d respond like a week later,” Sessi said.
“He’s on a deployment schedule, and I’m here at the academy, so it’s kind of difficult to stay in contact all the time.” He added that he let his cousin know he was selecting his patch, and Muniz was excited to watch the game from afar.
Coleman Cauley, a junior linebacker from Macon, Georgia, selected the VMG-352 Raiders patch, a Marine air refueling squadron based in California. Navy Defensive Coordinator P.J. Volker noted that patches have a personal edge for players. “I’ve had [former players] that are in the Marine Corps or in the Navy, reach out to me about guys on the team wearing their patch, or their brother’s patch, or, you know, a family member’s patch,” Volker said. He added that a patch can become a source of motivation for the entire room, a reminder that the game is about more than wins and losses.
Some patches connect even more directly to family history. Stephen Glenn, a backup punter from North Carolina, will wear a NASA patch from the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission that sent John Glenn into space, noting that Glenn is Stephen’s great uncle.
The team’s top running back, Alex Tecza, will wear a patch depicting a P-8 Poseidon jet, honoring dual commitments to defense and service. Tecza also memorializes Lt. j.g. Zak Kennedy, an Annapolis native and 2019 graduate who was killed by a drunk driver in 2023.
Kennedy’s mother has been Tecza’s civilian sponsor at the academy, hosting the players for weeks during summer practices.
Looming large in this patch ritual is a direct link to one family’s tragedy connected to the Navy’s own line of duty. The patch worn by Robinson holds a direct tie to the Navy’s team through the family of one of the 160th pilots who died in the September crash. Andrew Kraus’s father, Bill Kraus, was a longtime executive at Under Armour.
In 2001, he met Steve Newton, and the two became fast friends, later founding Mission BBQ in Glen Burnie, just outside Annapolis. The first location opened in 2008, and the chain now has close to 150 locations with a vivid theme of military support. Each day at noon, the staff stop serving as the national anthem is played.
Mission BBQ has become a strong ally of Naval Academy sports, and Andrew’s younger brother, Alex Kraus, is now a Marine pilot. When Andrew was killed, the team felt a loss akin to family.
“He’s somebody that everybody here in our football program knows, loves, and respects,” Volker remarked. “When his son passed away, it was really tough for a lot of people around here, and I can’t imagine what it was like for Bill and his family.” Even as the season carries on, the legacy of the Kraus family remains a focal point of the Navy’s camaraderie.
The postgame meal will be catered by Mission BBQ, further cementing the bond between service, sacrifice, and community. Kraus said, “Our family is incredibly grateful to Navy Football for this gesture in honoring Andrew and his crew.”
He added, “Humbled that Landon was willing to be involved.” This season’s patches are more than symbols; they are a living narrative about duty, honor, and the enduring strength of the American military family.