On this day in 1976 Pat Tillman was born. Tillman is a complicated individual to say the least. I have followed College Football and the NFL since the late 70s. There were some times that my desire to watch the games has waned here and there, but I would always come back to watch.
Tillman first appeared on my radar on 21 September 1996. I was with some friends and we were watching the late game on ESPN – but it was getting constant updates of one other game that night – Nebraska versus Arizona State. The Cornhuskers has won the previous two national championships, were the number one team in the nation, and riding a 26 game winning streak. At that point future NFL player Grant Wistrom, a defensive end for the Huskers, had not lost a college football game.

The previous year the Sun Devils had traveled to Lincoln and were just destroyed by the Huskers 77-28. The Sun Devils coach said before the game they could take another loss to Nebraska, but the blowout the previous year took them more than a month to recover from. Most recall a great game from Jake Plummer, but there was also a star on the defense – Pat Tillman.
Tillman was undersized at linebacker at 5’11” 204 pounds, but his desire to play and excel drove him to play larger than his stature. Tillman was given the last scholarship available when he committed to ASU. He had spoken with the coaches during the recruiting process, and they had wanted him to redshirt his first season and build up his body. Tillman told the coaches that he had things to do and a life to live and he was only going to be there for a short time. Pat kept his word as he graduated from ASU in three and a half years with a degree in marketing finishing with a 3.85 GPA.
Tillman was outstanding on the field, winning the PAC 10 Defensive Player of the Year award in 1997, as well as in academia winning the Clyde Smith academic award in 1996, and 1997, in addition to the Sporting News-Honda scholar athlete of the year also in 1997.
Tillman was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 1998 NFL draft. Tillman was the 226th player taken overall and he was drafted in the 7th and final round of the draft. Not often does a player taken that late in the draft make an NFL team.

The Cardinals moved Tillman to safety and he played in all 16 games in his rookie season, starting in 10 of the games. In 2000 Paul Zimmerman (Dr. Z) of Sports Illustrated named Tillman to his All-Pro team after Tillman finished the season with 155 tackles (120 solo) 1.5 sacks 2 forced fumbles 2 fumble recoveries 9 passes defensed and 1 interception. The St. Louis Rams offered Tillman a 5 year 9 million dollar contract, that Tillman turned down – out of loyalty to the Cardinals. I do not know how many people would turn something like that down. Yet Tillman did.

After the attacks of 11 September 2001 – something changed in Tillman. He finished out that season with the Cardinals, and turned down their 3 year 3.6 million dollar  contract to enlist in the United States Army. Pat and his brother Kevin, who had signed with the Cleveland Indians, both walked away from professional sports and joined the military.

Many at the time thought it was a publicity stunt. A few years before boxer Riddick Bowe had entered the Marines, but lasted less than a month before dropping out. The enigmatic Pat refused all media interviews and just went to boot camp. He and Kevin finished boot camp and signed up for the Army Ranger Indoctrination Program. They were assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Pat graduated from Ranger School in November 2003.

Tillman was deployed in the initial invasion of Iraq, rotated back to attend Ranger School and then sent to Afghanistan. On 22 April 2004 Pat Tillman was killed in a friendly fire incident.  The incident has never fully been explained. The United States Government used Pat Tillman as a propaganda tool. The incident had a story attributed to it from the Pentagon, who initially claimed that Tillman and his unit were attacked in an ambush near the village of Khost, not far from the Pakistan border. An Afghani militia member was also killed and two other Rangers were injured.

The Army knew immediately that Tillman was killed by friendly fire. Yet they awarded him a Silver Star citation which included the phrase ‘in the line of devastating enemy fire’. The Tillman family was not informed until weeks after his memorial service that Pat was killed by friendly fire.

There are other sources about the incident and the subsequent cover up. Jon Krakauer’s book ‘Where Men Win Glory’ is an excellent overall read, if you filter out Krakauer’s political agenda.

I do not like how the term hero is thrown about these days. Pat Tillman walked away from a life of relative ease to do something he felt was right – defending our country. There are too many politicians in both parties that have forgotten that it is the soldier that gives them the rights endowed by our Creator and assured in the Constitution. I am sickened by politicos that treat the soldier as a means to an end for themselves.

I never was afforded the opportunity to meet Pat Tillman. I do not know if he and I would have shared any of the same views, but I would have liked to had the opportunity to thank him for his service.

Veterans day is coming up – and whether you agree with the way the US Government has used our soldiers or not, these men and women are people, and this is what they have chosen to do. It is because of them we have freedom. Please thank them. Because of them we can live our lives, or protest, or complain, or go to work, or church, or to dine out. They have sacrificed some of their goals and dreams, so that we may have ours. That, to me, is worth more than just a simple thank you, but it is a start.