RIP Pat Tillman
April 23rd, 2004 at 02:35 pm in NewsI’m literally walking out the door right now to go away for the weekend, but I feel I must post this now, so forgive me if this seems a little rushed.
Today Pat Tillman was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan. For those of you who know little or nothing about Tillman, he was an NFL star for the Arizona Cardinals for 4 years until 9-11. He then went and married his longtime girlfriend, enjoyed his honeymoon, and joined the Army Rangers. He walked away from the fame and fortune of a multi-million dollar contract to serve his country. His brother, who was a pitching prospect for the Cleveland Indians, also joined him and after months of training, they both became Army Rangers. Both refused to give ANY interviews or comments to the media since they felt what they were doing was no different then the other men and women who gave up their normal lives to join the military.
I first heard of his story last summer when the two won the ESPN Arthur Ashe award. They played a 10 minute clip or so on him and it was so moving, I stayed up until 3 in the morning just to watch it again, even though I had to be at work at 5 AM. Nothing I say right now can give justice to how I feel about Tillman…he inspired me to change my life, to do a few things I never would have done before, and to realize that you can go through life doing things your own way. Reading some of the stories and comments that people sent in only shows that I wasn’t the only person Tillman touched. There is a tribute to him on ESPN Classic tonight at 9:00. If you can’t watch it, I’d suggest you set your VCR to record it like I have. You won’t be dissapointed in the least.
I’ve never once cheered for ASU or the Arizona Cardinals. I’d never heard the name Pat Tillman until a year ago and I’ve only read about him from what I’ve been able to find on the Internet.
And yet today I feel as though I’ve lost a mentor and friend.
We need more Pat Tillmans in the world today. He is the true epitome of everything I try to be.
Angel http://temporary-sanity.com/
Great post Goob. I had the pleasure of meeting Pat and Jake Plummer at the NFL experience several years ago. I only spoke with them for about 60 seconds but both were great. From that day on I was a fan of both, so yesterdays news hit me like a ton of bricks. I remember when he left the NFL I kept thinking that this was the kind of guy kids could look up to. He is going to be greatly missed. You’re exactly right though, there is a great need for more people like him in this world, we’d be much better off.