It is hard to imagine that Tuesday will mark the 5th anniversary of the tragic death of former Sun Devil Pat Tillman in Iraq.
April 22nd, 2004. Friendly fire killed Army Ranger Pat Tillman while he was on patrol in Afghanistan. I remember exactly what I was doing the moment I heard the news. Between classes of my freshman year of high school a teacher stopped me in the hallway and asked me if I was a Sun Devil fan. I looked at him awkwardly and said yes, wondering why. He then went on to tell me of the death of Tillman and instantly my heart broke.
When I tell people that Pat Tillman is my hero, they will jump on me that I chose him because he gave up an NFL career and was tragically killed in war. Pat Tillman was one of my role models before he even decided to serve our nation. The way Tillman went about his life, the way he lived, there was no better role model.
He was the last member of the late Bruce Snyder's 1994 recruiting class, but the undersized linebacker made an incredible impact on and off of the field at ASU. Not only did he take home Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 or play a key role in the magical undefeated season the year before, Tillman was a model student, graduating with a 3.8 GPA.
The ultimate underdog, he was taken with the 226th overall pick in the draft by the Cardinals. Some even thought at the time that it was just the home town team doing the local college a favor. But Pat Tillman was right at home in Sun Devil Stadium, in college and the NFL. Tillman started 10 games as a rookie after moving to safety and made 74 tackles in his rookie season. His 224 tackles in 2000 are still a Cardinals record.
Pat Tillman had a higher purpose in life than being a pro football player. He turned down 9 million dollars from the Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams to stay a Cardinal. He then turned down $3.67 million from the Cardinals to join the forces.
“Pat knew his purpose in life,” said Dave McGinnis, Tillman’s former coach with the Cardinals. “He proudly walked away from a career in football to a greater calling.”
The attacks of 9/11 really hit Tillman hard and his quote shortly after the attacks summed up the man that was.
“My great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and a lot of my family has ... gone and fought in wars, and I really haven’t done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that.”
Then he did. He gave the ultimate sacrifice to his country. People have always wanted to honor Tillman properly, but he would have had none of that. He was a smart man that had many beliefs and studied works of many different philosophers. Tillman would not have wanted to be the hero, he was just doing what he felt he had to do. Pat was a modest man, all of his shirts were wrinkled, his watch was fake, his hair long and the only thing bigger than his character was his heart.
On the 5 year anniversary let us remember the man that was Pat Tillman. The man the Pac 10's defensive player of the year award bears the name of, the man that every Sun Devil is reminded of before each game while walking through the Tillman Tunnell. Regardless of how he was killed and regardless of the investigation that is still ongoing, Tillman gave Sun Devils, Cardinals and American's a hero and a reason to take a step back and look at our lives and wonder what more we could do? On April 22nd, remember PT42 and his sacrifice...for our nation.
Please watch these videos, as these are a great tribute to Pat.
A true Sun Devil....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIb7zW_okto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSWh6fvsPYE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBM2hiXRZA0&feature=related
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