ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy head football coach Brian Newberry announced today that senior offensive tackle Connor McMahon will have the honor of wearing No. 68 in memory of former Navy offensive lineman David Forney.
Forney, who was a senior offensive lineman on the 2019 team, died on Feb. 20, 2020, after being found unresponsive in Bancroft Hall. He was 22 years old. Forney won three varsity letters for the Mids and played in 39-consecutive games over his final three seasons.
In 2019, Forney started all 13 games at guard and was the anchor of an offensive line that set a school record and led the nation in rushing, averaging 360.5 yards per game. Forney was extremely proud of being part of a senior class that authored the second-greatest turnaround in the history of FBS football as the Mids won a school-record tying 11 games, won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy, shared the American Athletic Conference West Division title and won the Liberty Bowl. Forney was named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference and First-Team All-East.
In 2020, Navy honored Forney by wearing a sticker on the back of its helmets that pictured him running out of the tunnel at the 2019 Army-Navy game carrying the American flag with the word Brotherhood underneath. Additionally, Navy did not issue jersey No. 68 until the Army-Navy game when starting offensive lineman Billy Honaker wore it to honor his friend.
At the start of the 2021 season it was determined that a senior offensive lineman would be assigned No. 68 each year to remember Forney. Starting center / guard Pierce Banbury was the first to be tabbed with the honor, while senior offensive tackle Kip Frankland wore No. 68 in 2022 and senior center Lirion Murtezi was chosen in 2023.
McMahon is a returning starter for the Mids at offensive tackle and has played in 23-consecutive games over the last two years, starting 22-straight contests despite battling injuries. He earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors last year.
A native of Walkersville, Md. and a 2015 graduate of Georgetown Prep, Forney is survived by his parents, Rick and Erika Forney, younger brothers, Chris and Erik, and sister, Rebekah.
Forney, who was a member of the ninth company at the Naval Academy and a political science major, would have graduated on May 22, 2020. He was due to serve as a crytologic warfare officer.
