[2] On March 16, 1942, DeCorrevont enlisted in the United States Navy and served as a Chief Petty Officer (Class A) until the end of the World War II in 1945.

At that time, Soldier Field had only about 76,000 seats,[3] but managed to hold a record-breaking crowd, estimated at nearly 120,000,[4][5] that turned out to watch DeCorrevont face off against Leo's star, Johnny Galvin.

[3] The game garnered so much publicity for DeCorrevont that his broken collarbone (injured that December) gained mention in both the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.

He chose Northwestern University for both its proximity to Chicago and its strong academic reputation,[3][8] a choice which was possibly also aided by his familial connections to Wildcat football.

One older cousin, George Wilson, had played as an end in the mid-1930s, and another, Jack Riley, had been an acclaimed football captain and All-American tackle at Northwestern in the 1930s as well.