Pat Tillman overachieved in football, and just about everything else.
Too slow to be a great safety, too small for an NFL linebacker, he got by on toughness, effort and brains.
PHOTO: REUTERS
He worked his way from seventh-round draft pick to starting safety for the Arizona Cardinals, then walked away from millions of dollars to join the Army Rangers and serve his country.
This week, he paid with his life. Tillman died in a firefight in the mountains of Afghanistan on Thursday night. He was 27.
"Pat represents all that is good with this country, our society and ultimately the human condition in general," said Seattle Seahawks general manager Bob Ferguson, who was general manager with the Cardinals when Tillman was drafted.
"In today's world of instant gratification and selfishness, here is a man that was defined by words like loyalty, honor, passion, courage, strength and nobility," Ferguson said. "He is a modern-day hero."
The Department of Defense confirmed Tillman's death Friday night, saying he was killed in Afghanistan "when his patrol vehicle came under attack." It did not provide details.
The news of Tillman's death stunned those who knew him, and those who cheered him on, first as a hard-hitting linebacker at Arizona State, then as a safety with the Cardinals. A memorial was set up outside the Cardinals' headquarters, with his No. 40 jersey in a glass frame, and a giant poster with Tillman on one knee, in uniform, on the Cardinals' sideline.
People brought flowers, teddy bears and balloons. One man in uniform and kilt showed up to play "Amazing Grace" and "America the Beautiful" on a bagpipe.
"A lot of times in football, analogies of war are thrown around freely," former Cardinals teammate Pete Kendall said. "On a day like this, you see how hollow those ring."
Quarterback Jake Plummer of Denver was a teammate of Tillman for seven years, three at Arizona State and four with the Cardinals.
Remembered forever
"We lost a unique individual that touched the lives of many with his love for life, his toughness, his intellect," Plummer said in a statement released by the Broncos. "Pat Tillman lived life to the fullest and will be remembered forever in my heart and mind."
Arizona State athletic director Gene Smith said the school will retire Tillman's No. 42 jersey following the 2004 season. The university and the Cardinals also are collaborating on establishing a scholarship fund in Tillman's name.
In college, he was a long-haired wild man on the field, an all-Pac-10 linebacker always going full-speed. Bone-jarring hits were his trademark. He and Plummer led the Sun Devils to the 1996 Rose Bowl. A year later, Tillman was the Pac-10 defensive player of the year.
He graduated summa cum laude in 3 1/2 years. He earned a marketing degree with a 3.84 grade-point average.
The Cardinals took Tillman in the seventh round of the 1998 draft, the 226th player chosen.
At first, he made his mark on special teams but played his way to starting safety.
In 2000, he broke the franchise record for tackles with 224. He had 12 solo tackles, and a hand in 21 overall, in a 16-15 victory over Washington that season.
In practice, coaches often had to make Tillman slow down so he wouldn't hurt anybody in drills that weren't supposed to be full-speed. Slowing down was always tough for him.
Before the 2000 season, he ran a marathon to see what it would be like. Before the 2001 season, he gave the triathlon a try.
`We have to talk'
In May of 2002 -- six months after Sept. 11 -- Tillman walked into the office of then-coach Dave McGinnis, pulled up a chair and said "Mac, we have to talk."
Tillman and his brother, Kevin -- a minor-league baseball player in the Cleveland organization -- were going to join the Army Rangers, soldiers sent where the fighting is toughest.
"It was his wish that this not be something that would draw a lot of attention," McGinnis said. "He truly felt committed and felt a sense of honor and duty at this point in his life that this is what he wanted to do."
Tillman never uttered a word publicly about his decision.
When he returned from his Middle East tour of duty, Tillman, wife Marie and brother Kevin joined the Cardinals for a game in Seattle last December. They spent five hours in McGinnis' hotel room, just talking the night before the game.
"He was just so proud to be a member of the Rangers," McGinnis said. "That came through loud and clear."
Tillman attended the team's pre-game breakfast, then watched the game with Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill and his son, Cardinals vice president Michael Bidwill, to watch the game. Tillman talked with his teammates in the locker room after the game, then slipped out a side door before reporters came in.
Tillman turned down a more lucrative offer from St. Louis in 2001 to stay with the Cardinals. A year later, he walked away from a three-year, US$3.6 million offer from Arizona to join the Army.
"He is a hero," Michael Bidwill said. "He was a brave man. There are very few people who have the courage to do what he did, the courage to walk away from a professional sports career and make the ultimate sacrifice."
Phil Snow, now defensive coordinator at the University of Washington, held the same position at Arizona State when the Sun Devils recruited Tillman out of San Jose, California.
"Pat was a lot of things as a person," Snow said. "He was a tough, good-looking guy. He was extremely competitive. You know there is a saying with older people: `He was a man's man.' You always knew where you stood with Pat. There was no phoniness in him."
Governor Janet Napolitano ordered flags on the Arizona State campus flown at half-staff. The Cardinals and Arizona State University established a Pat Tillman Scholarship Award to be presented annually to an ASU marketing student.
"What other person do you know who would give up a life in the NFL to defend what he believes in with his own life," said former teammate David Barrett, now with the New York Jets. "That is a humble guy."
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was