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Pair of D-I lacrosse commits from Broadneck, St. Mary’s switch gears to join Navy football
By Katherine Fominykh, Capital Gazette, Aug 20, 2023
St. Mary's senior Teddy Androus and Broadneck senior Eli Harris both recently made the switch from Division I lacrosse commits to Navy football.
Teddy Androus committed to play at one of the best lacrosse teams in the country and felt unsettled.
Growing up in Annapolis, the St. Mary’s multi-sport athlete picked up a lacrosse stick as a toddler. His skill and dedication earned him an offer from Notre Dame, which Androus, a faceoff specialist, verbally accepted before his junior year, even before the Fighting Irish won the 2023 national championship. That should’ve been his story, similar to so many talented, lifelong lacrosse players who roam Anne Arundel County.
But Androus’ story was always going to diverge after the fall of his freshman season, when he stepped onto Pascal Field and made the football team.
“I felt a feeling that I never felt in lacrosse, with football,” Androus said. “It’s a different culture, different play style, and I loved it.”
After his junior season as an outside linebacker, Androus sat down with his parents to discuss his truth. He had given so much to lacrosse, he said, dedicated his life to it. He wanted to see how far he could take it, and he took to the summit few ever reach. But he could not see himself playing lacrosse for the next four years, even if he loved it. He never lost interest, Androus said. Football “blew him away.”
Androus professed his new love when he committed to Navy football on June 28.
“Something inside of me, that seed that was planted freshman year, it really blossomed,” Androus said. “That’s what I wanted to do. As much as I’m feeling weird leaving lacrosse behind, the excitement that I’m playing football for the next four years, doing the sport I love most, is completely overwhelming and unbelievable.”
The St. Mary’s rising senior is one of two Anne Arundel athletes to recently make that uncommon switch. Eli Harris, a rising senior at Broadneck, originally committed to Loyola Maryland men’s lacrosse before decommitting to pledge himself to Navy football this summer, too.
But unlike Androus, football is an old family friend for Harris. His father, Rob Harris, coached Broadneck since his son’s birth. He’d send team managers to pick up Eli from elementary school, and he’d toddle over to watch football practice.
“We always thought it was destined that he was going to play football,” Rob Harris said. “But at the same time, we wanted it to be his journey.”
Like so many kids his age, Eli picked up a lacrosse stick early, too.
Maryland, Anne Arundel County especially, is bound to lacrosse. It supplies most of the nation’s adult lacrosse players and coaches. The Annapolis Hawks, the lacrosse club both Androus and Eli Harris compete with, is one of many acclaimed programs within county borders and captured 16 championships across its classes in one summer alone.
The question of whether football is making a run on lacrosse for Anne Arundel’s premier boys sport can’t be answered by two flipped athletes, even if the area does seem awash in Division I, potential NFL-caliber players as of late. As it stands, there are scores of Division I, III and III lacrosse commits pouring out of Anne Arundel every year, and that’s not going to change. Lacrosse recruiting typically predates football, too, said Eli Harris, a wideout and defensive midfielder.
“Schools start reaching out, and that’s where all the [scholarship] money is,” Harris said. “If you wait later, you’re not going to have it. So, I could jump, knowing that if I didn’t want to leave, cool. It was always open. It was always 50/50 in my mind.”
Rob Harris said he didn’t want to sway his son either way. His two daughters, Brianna and Kayla Harris, were lacrosse stars at Florida and Navy, respectively. When Navy came to court Eli, his father recalled the excitement that rippled through him at the thought of following his sister’s path in service, a decision Kayla said she would pick again if given the choice.
Harris earned All-County honorable mention in lacrosse with 55 ground balls as a junior. In June, Rob and Eli joined the Midshipmen on a group visit alongside 40 other recruits. During lunch, three names were instructed to the practice field, where first-year coach Brian Newberry offered Eli a scholarship on the spot.
They want to keep him as a wide receiver, the rising senior said, running the outside just as he does now for his Bruins. He earned All-County first team honors as a junior with 62 catches for 1,068 yards and 11 touchdowns.
After committing in July, all that kept Harris off the path to college football was getting his forms in line for the Naval Academy. There will be no prep school for him.
“I did love lacrosse. I did. But once I had the opportunity, it’s just unbeatable,” Eli Harris said. “Navy football, having a job out of college, and having Teddy — he’s such a great guy, such an asset and just a great human in general — it was super relieving. I can just come in there and just play.”
St. Mary’s was always a lacrosse school first. The best lacrosse players nearly always played football, too, leading the Saints to three Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference titles in eight years. “Not often” did that sway them off the path to lacrosse in college, football coach Jason Budroni said.
When he met Androus as a freshman, the coach couldn’t believe this was his first try at football. The newbie caught on quickly, Budroni said, already possessing a crafty football IQ, a speedy downhill style and the right aggression before long.
“Last season, he just kind of grew up,” Budroni said. “And he just loves playing. He’s the easy, typical linebacker, a strong and tough kid. This all fits his personality.”
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Androus made the All-County second team defense after finishing second on the team in total tackles (101) with five sacks, eight tackles for loss and four forced fumbles. In the winter, his Notre Dame lacrosse commitment in hand, Androus confessed to Budroni he wanted to be a football player after all. Not wanting to rock his sure thing in South Bend, Indiana, Budroni went about sending his name out carefully.
Androus remembers “vividly” the day Holy Cross came in to talk. Then Dartmouth and a few other Ivy League schools, too. Then Navy. Confidence flowered in Androus then. A serious football program saw something in him, and he wouldn’t have to sacrifice his dedication to academics for it. As a bonus, he could fulfill his dream of serving his country, Androus said. His future teammate, Xavier Arline, balances both football and lacrosse as a midshipman, but that’s not a path Androus intends to take.
“This is the feeling I wanted. When I was committed for lacrosse, I wish I could say I was relaxed, that I was fully happy with my choice. The fact is, I still had love for football,” Androus said. “I even talked about walking on at Notre Dame to keep that football dream alive. But now I have it. And I’m locked in.”
