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Championship!!!!
Hero leaves legacy of virtue
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — Brave Heart. That's what they called Pat Tillman at Arizona State, where he walked on the football team in 1994 and molded himself into the ultimate overachiever.
That nickname echoes throughout locker rooms of the NFL, the corridors of the Pentagon, the Oval Office of the White House and the backyards of America for the safety-turned-soldier saluted in death.
"We lost, very simply, the ultimate American," said Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White, who held the same job at ASU when Tillman played there. "How incredibly ironic, years later, that Pat will go down in the annals of American history as the quintessential, in every way, brave heart."
A country at war in the Middle East and a nation at play with the NFL draft embraced that sentiment over a mournful weekend of tributes for the singular 27-year-old, who walked away from a $3.6 million contract offer with the Arizona Cardinals and a burgeoning NFL career to join the Army Rangers two years ago.
Killed in a firefight in southeast Afghanistan on Thursday on a second tour of duty with the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, an elite infantry force, Tillman began the journey home to San Jose, Calif., on Sunday on a military plane headed for Dover (Del.) Air Force Base. His brother, Kevin, also a specialist in the Army's elite infantry force, accompanied him. Funeral arrangements were pending.
In a life lived with a zest for challenge and a passion for conviction, Tillman won over fans of the underdog. At 5-11, 200 pounds, an undersized linebacker given the last scholarship at ASU, he was the 1997 Pacific-10 defensive player of the year. He graduated summa cum laude in 31/2 years with a 3.84 GPA and marketing degree.
An undersized safety in the pros as the Cardinals' next-to-last draft pick (No. 226) in 1998, he set a franchise record for tackles in 2000, then turned down a five-year, $9 million offer sheet from the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams in 2001. Why? "He chose to stay with us out of loyalty," said Tennessee Titans assistant coach Dave McGinnis, Tillman's coach with the Cardinals. "They weren't concepts with him. They were his life. There was nothing phony about Pat Tillman."
Long hair blowing, Tillman rode his bike to practice his first season with the Cardinals and motored around town in a Jeep. He tested himself in a marathon and a triathlon. Once, after the Cardinals kicker was hurt in a game, Tillman was the first to track down McGinnis on the sideline. "Mac, you know who your kicker is the rest of the game," he said to McGinnis, who used him to kick off.
A close friend, former NFL lineman Jeremy Staat, who played with Tillman at ASU, called him "Forrest Gump with smarts."
He transcended football.
"He was the guy next door," said Trevor Mazak, among a steady stream of mourners who paid tribute at a makeshift memorial at the Cardinals training complex.
Publicity was not his calling
In a death suffered on the battlefield he chose, Tillman became, ironically, the heroic public figure he so doggedly dodged on and off the football field.
Saturday, at the NFL draft in New York, fans chanted "USA! USA!" after Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, flanked by five Marines and wearing a black ribbon with Tillman's name on it and a Cardinals helmet pin with the No. 40, opened the draft with a moment of silence for Tillman. Later, they booed No. 1 pick Eli Manning, the defiant quarterback who told the San Diego Chargers he would not play for them and subsequently was traded to the New York Giants.
"The fans are tired of these prima donnas," said Joannie Butch, a season ticketholder who was at the Cardinals' draft party at a downtown sports bar. "Tillman was the exact opposite: a man of honor and dignity and morals."
Tillman enlisted in Denver to avoid publicity and refused to the day he died to publicly explain why he left football for the Rangers.
"He was the essence of the guy who wanted to be a contributor to a team, whether it was Arizona State, the Cardinals or the Army Rangers," McGinnis said. "He didn't want to be singled out. He didn't count himself special."
Not even when he returned to visit his old team in December while stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash., between tours in the Middle East. Tillman, his wife, Marie, his brother and two friends went to Seattle for the Cardinals game against the Seahawks.
The night before the game, the five talked with McGinnis in his hotel room for five hours. "I felt a great sense of pride sitting in that room with them," McGinnis said.
McGinnis invited Tillman to address the team at a pregame meal the next day. He met with them but declined to address them as a group. "When he walked into the team meal, guys looked up. It was total respect," McGinnis said. "You could sense it and feel it."
McGinnis recalled the day Tillman walked into his office and told him he was leaving football to join the Army with his brother. The terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, nine months earlier, had made a huge impact on him. A great-grandfather had served at Pearl Harbor.
"He felt a sense of honor and duty at this point in his life," McGinnis said. "I didn't question it."
At the time, McGinnis said Tillman was oblivious to the impact his decision would have in the sports world and beyond. "He said, 'There are young men and women all over the country doing this. Why should I be any different?' "
He was. "It's unbelievable to do what he did, to give up what he gave up," said Sgt. Chad Simon, a Marine who was a guest of the NFL at the draft. "I can't comprehend what he did."
A role model in the truest sense
They understood in his hometown, where red-white-and-blue flags waved at half-staff up and down the oak tree-lined road at the Tillman family home.
Tillman was a football legend at Leland High, where his legacy is remembered by a new generation. "He had heart and determination," said 18-year-old Darren Gemoll, a senior linebacker. "He was a model of excellence for us."
Tillman brought his fiery attitude and no-quit demeanor to Phoenix, where he continued to write his own ticket. Then-Arizona State coach Bruce Synder pulled him aside when he arrived and told him he was going to redshirt him his freshman year. Tillman said forget that, he had his own agenda. "You don't have to play me," he told Synder, "but in four years I've got other things that I want to go do."
That single-minded conviction ultimately led him to Afghanistan, where he became the first NFL player killed in combat since Buffalo Bills tackle Bob Kalsu died in the Vietnam War in 1970. Nineteen NFL players were killed in World War II.
He comes back a fallen hero.
"In today's world of instant gratification and selfishness, here is a man who was defined by words like loyalty, honor, passion, courage, strength and nobility," said Seattle Seahawks general manager Bob Ferguson, who held the same position in Arizona when the Cardinals drafted Tillman.
Similar tributes poured in from all corners of the country during the weekend. The White House said he was an "inspiration on and off the field." Tagliabue said he "personified all the best values of his country and the NFL."
Added Philadelphia Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie, "Make a movie. Write a book. Do it all, because that guy was something special."
The NFL will consult with Tillman's family to discuss the creation of an annual award to honor him. In Phoenix, the plaza surrounding the Cardinals stadium to open in 2006 will be named Pat Tillman Freedom Plaza. The Sun Devils and Cardinals said they would retire his jersey number. Flags at Arizona State flew at half-staff by order of the governor.
The Sun Devils and Cardinals collaborated to form the Pat Tillman Memorial Scholarship Award. The Arizona Diamondbacks held a moment of silence Friday before the national anthem.
At the Cardinals facility, which featured Tillman's framed jersey and poster of him in uniform on one knee with the flag in the background, admirers left combat boots, the Rangers creed, flowers and messages of condolences for his family. They came wearing his jersey — and left in tears. "He got it. He's one of the few who gets it," said Jonelle Long of Scottsdale. "He's an inspiration."
A brave heart, now far beyond the campus of Arizona State.
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
PHOENIX — Brave Heart. That's what they called Pat Tillman at Arizona State, where he walked on the football team in 1994 and molded himself into the ultimate overachiever.
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Steve Moore of Tempe, Ariz., pays tribute to former Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman at a makeshift memorial outside Sun Devil Stadium.
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By Andrew T. Sawyer, East Valley Tribune via APThat nickname echoes throughout locker rooms of the NFL, the corridors of the Pentagon, the Oval Office of the White House and the backyards of America for the safety-turned-soldier saluted in death.
"We lost, very simply, the ultimate American," said Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White, who held the same job at ASU when Tillman played there. "How incredibly ironic, years later, that Pat will go down in the annals of American history as the quintessential, in every way, brave heart."
A country at war in the Middle East and a nation at play with the NFL draft embraced that sentiment over a mournful weekend of tributes for the singular 27-year-old, who walked away from a $3.6 million contract offer with the Arizona Cardinals and a burgeoning NFL career to join the Army Rangers two years ago.
Killed in a firefight in southeast Afghanistan on Thursday on a second tour of duty with the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, an elite infantry force, Tillman began the journey home to San Jose, Calif., on Sunday on a military plane headed for Dover (Del.) Air Force Base. His brother, Kevin, also a specialist in the Army's elite infantry force, accompanied him. Funeral arrangements were pending.
In a life lived with a zest for challenge and a passion for conviction, Tillman won over fans of the underdog. At 5-11, 200 pounds, an undersized linebacker given the last scholarship at ASU, he was the 1997 Pacific-10 defensive player of the year. He graduated summa cum laude in 31/2 years with a 3.84 GPA and marketing degree.
An undersized safety in the pros as the Cardinals' next-to-last draft pick (No. 226) in 1998, he set a franchise record for tackles in 2000, then turned down a five-year, $9 million offer sheet from the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams in 2001. Why? "He chose to stay with us out of loyalty," said Tennessee Titans assistant coach Dave McGinnis, Tillman's coach with the Cardinals. "They weren't concepts with him. They were his life. There was nothing phony about Pat Tillman."
Long hair blowing, Tillman rode his bike to practice his first season with the Cardinals and motored around town in a Jeep. He tested himself in a marathon and a triathlon. Once, after the Cardinals kicker was hurt in a game, Tillman was the first to track down McGinnis on the sideline. "Mac, you know who your kicker is the rest of the game," he said to McGinnis, who used him to kick off.
A close friend, former NFL lineman Jeremy Staat, who played with Tillman at ASU, called him "Forrest Gump with smarts."
He transcended football.
"He was the guy next door," said Trevor Mazak, among a steady stream of mourners who paid tribute at a makeshift memorial at the Cardinals training complex.
Publicity was not his calling
In a death suffered on the battlefield he chose, Tillman became, ironically, the heroic public figure he so doggedly dodged on and off the football field.
Saturday, at the NFL draft in New York, fans chanted "USA! USA!" after Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, flanked by five Marines and wearing a black ribbon with Tillman's name on it and a Cardinals helmet pin with the No. 40, opened the draft with a moment of silence for Tillman. Later, they booed No. 1 pick Eli Manning, the defiant quarterback who told the San Diego Chargers he would not play for them and subsequently was traded to the New York Giants.
"The fans are tired of these prima donnas," said Joannie Butch, a season ticketholder who was at the Cardinals' draft party at a downtown sports bar. "Tillman was the exact opposite: a man of honor and dignity and morals."
Tillman enlisted in Denver to avoid publicity and refused to the day he died to publicly explain why he left football for the Rangers.
"He was the essence of the guy who wanted to be a contributor to a team, whether it was Arizona State, the Cardinals or the Army Rangers," McGinnis said. "He didn't want to be singled out. He didn't count himself special."
Not even when he returned to visit his old team in December while stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash., between tours in the Middle East. Tillman, his wife, Marie, his brother and two friends went to Seattle for the Cardinals game against the Seahawks.
The night before the game, the five talked with McGinnis in his hotel room for five hours. "I felt a great sense of pride sitting in that room with them," McGinnis said.
McGinnis invited Tillman to address the team at a pregame meal the next day. He met with them but declined to address them as a group. "When he walked into the team meal, guys looked up. It was total respect," McGinnis said. "You could sense it and feel it."
McGinnis recalled the day Tillman walked into his office and told him he was leaving football to join the Army with his brother. The terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, nine months earlier, had made a huge impact on him. A great-grandfather had served at Pearl Harbor.
"He felt a sense of honor and duty at this point in his life," McGinnis said. "I didn't question it."
At the time, McGinnis said Tillman was oblivious to the impact his decision would have in the sports world and beyond. "He said, 'There are young men and women all over the country doing this. Why should I be any different?' "
He was. "It's unbelievable to do what he did, to give up what he gave up," said Sgt. Chad Simon, a Marine who was a guest of the NFL at the draft. "I can't comprehend what he did."
A role model in the truest sense
They understood in his hometown, where red-white-and-blue flags waved at half-staff up and down the oak tree-lined road at the Tillman family home.
Tillman was a football legend at Leland High, where his legacy is remembered by a new generation. "He had heart and determination," said 18-year-old Darren Gemoll, a senior linebacker. "He was a model of excellence for us."
Tillman brought his fiery attitude and no-quit demeanor to Phoenix, where he continued to write his own ticket. Then-Arizona State coach Bruce Synder pulled him aside when he arrived and told him he was going to redshirt him his freshman year. Tillman said forget that, he had his own agenda. "You don't have to play me," he told Synder, "but in four years I've got other things that I want to go do."
That single-minded conviction ultimately led him to Afghanistan, where he became the first NFL player killed in combat since Buffalo Bills tackle Bob Kalsu died in the Vietnam War in 1970. Nineteen NFL players were killed in World War II.
He comes back a fallen hero.
"In today's world of instant gratification and selfishness, here is a man who was defined by words like loyalty, honor, passion, courage, strength and nobility," said Seattle Seahawks general manager Bob Ferguson, who held the same position in Arizona when the Cardinals drafted Tillman.
Similar tributes poured in from all corners of the country during the weekend. The White House said he was an "inspiration on and off the field." Tagliabue said he "personified all the best values of his country and the NFL."
Added Philadelphia Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie, "Make a movie. Write a book. Do it all, because that guy was something special."
The NFL will consult with Tillman's family to discuss the creation of an annual award to honor him. In Phoenix, the plaza surrounding the Cardinals stadium to open in 2006 will be named Pat Tillman Freedom Plaza. The Sun Devils and Cardinals said they would retire his jersey number. Flags at Arizona State flew at half-staff by order of the governor.
The Sun Devils and Cardinals collaborated to form the Pat Tillman Memorial Scholarship Award. The Arizona Diamondbacks held a moment of silence Friday before the national anthem.
At the Cardinals facility, which featured Tillman's framed jersey and poster of him in uniform on one knee with the flag in the background, admirers left combat boots, the Rangers creed, flowers and messages of condolences for his family. They came wearing his jersey — and left in tears. "He got it. He's one of the few who gets it," said Jonelle Long of Scottsdale. "He's an inspiration."
A brave heart, now far beyond the campus of Arizona State.
