Norwich University celebrates Legacy students each year during Family Weekend to recognize those who have had a family member attend Norwich in the past.  Sometimes the ties which bind a legacy go much deeper, as is the case with Josh '23 and Dave Skelley '91.

Josh and his father Dave both attended Norwich University, both are Corps of Cadets, both played quarterback on the football team, and both dealt with setbacks during their athletic careers.  Those are strong ties to begin with, but the connection extends significantly deeper.  A strong father-son relationship has been enhanced through shared experiences as well as a son's devotion to sharing his father's story.  Josh summed it up by saying that "being a legacy here is different than just about any other school.  I have my dad go to this school, to play football, to have that career, to have him understand everything that I am going through…that is what makes this place special to me!" 

"I have had a lot of conversations about coming here.  My dad didn't just go here.  He came here, got cancer, and then won the starting (quarterback) job.  Knowing what he did, I felt some weight on my shoulders to be like him, but now I realize I just had to carry on and not diminish his name.  It made this place even more of a home to me," said Josh.  But, it was not a foregone conclusion that Josh would follow in his father's footsteps.  Josh said "my dad suggested I apply to his alma mater.  I had no real intent to come to Norwich.  But, I got the football recruiting letter, got accepted, and then came to visit.  Then I saw how intimidating it was with these big guys in camo in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.  I asked myself if I was man enough to do this or will I regret not doing it?"

"I couldn't be more proud, as both a father and a Norwich graduate, to have my son become a legacy student," said Dave Skelley.  "The opportunity to be a part of the legacy tradition of both the university, as well as being a member of the Norwich football program, are among the proudest parts of my life.  When Josh started his journey at Norwich, the first thing that came to me was I understood everything he was feeling and the many challenges he was going to face during his 'Rook' freshman year.  Additionally, his football experience would be among the biggest challenges he would endure and provide him with his greatest joys and memories for the rest of his life.  Being a member of the Norwich football brotherhood, especially with his father, puts both of us in a very unique group of Norwich graduates."

Dave Skelley's time at Norwich was something straight from a movie script.  "I chose Norwich University as an opportunity to face challenges not provided in a typical college setting and the chance to play college football," said Dave.  "Norwich, through the Corps of Cadets, offers the prospect of enrolling in a university that allows one to learn how to overcome adversity to become better prepared for life."  Little did he know just how big those challenges and lessons would be while in Northfield.  In 1985 he began football preseason practices as the fifth quarterback on the depth chart and eventually worked his way up to the third spot.  Shortly after Thanksgiving that year, he was rushed to the hospital for stomach pain and severe back pain.  At the time, everyone thought it was a possible appendicitis, but he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.  The CT scan revealed a football shaped tumor growing in the abdomen that was pushing on his spine and stomach.  He went to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and began his treatments in December of 1985.  Five rounds of chemotherapy over the next five months were needed before he could even have the remaining tumor removed at Brigham and Women's Hospital in April of 1986.  Another four months of chemotherapy treatments followed.  The once 190-pound college athlete was now down to only 128 pounds.  He returned to Norwich in January of 1987 to continue as an academic freshman and was a student-coach on Coach Mynter's staff during the 1987 football season.  If the story simply ended here then it would still be amazing, but Dave Skelley was not finished.

In 1988 Dave Skelley returned to the field, this time as a player not as a student-coach like the year before.  He battled his way from third string to being the starting quarterback going into the season. The second game of the season was against Glassboro State (currently named Rowan University) and he was honored with the prestigious Gold Helmet Award from the New England Football Writers for his play that day.  In fact, ESPN would come to Northfield just shortly after the Glassboro game to do a feature story on Dave's battle with cancer and subsequent success at Sabine Field.  He graduated from Norwich in 1991 with an Accounting degree and was the second all-time leader in passing yards in school history at the time.

Dave said "Coach Mynter plays a big part in me in how I became a teacher, coach, and man." After graduation Dave followed Coach Mynter to coach in Finland for the 1991 summer and then was on Coach Mynter's staff at Canisius College as the offensive coordinator from '92-'94.  While at Canisius, Dave received his NY State Teaching Certification and then embarked on a 25+ year career teaching business education as well as coaching football, baseball, softball, and tennis.

Although originally being told that the cancer and subsequent treatments would render him unable to have kids, Dave and his wife ended up having twins.  Dave said his biggest life event was having the twins after "major improvements in the high-tech baby abilities of modern medical science." And again, if the story ended here, it would be almost unbelievable, but the Skelley family continued to add to this amazing story.

 When Josh was dropped off to start preseason football practice in 2019 his father handed him a simple, unwrapped, cardboard box with the instructions not to open the box until his dad had left.  Back in his room Josh opened the box to find a framed quote.