Tillman's legacy: ultimate sacrifice

He lost his life while serving his country in Afghanistan.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Pat Tillman walked away from millions in the NFL to fight for his country in Afghanistan.
He paid with his life.
The former Arizona Cardinals safety was killed Thursday night in a firefight while on combat patrol. A sergeant with the elite Army Rangers, he was 27.
"He is a hero," Cardinals vice president 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."
Confirmation
Lt. Col. Matt Beevers, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Kabul, said a soldier was killed by anti-coalition militia forces about 25 miles from a U.S. military base at Khost, the site of frequent attacks.
A military official at the Pentagon confirmed it was Tillman, and the White House praised him as "an inspiration both on and off the football field."
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Tillman was an overachiever as an athlete. Too slow to be a great safety, too small for an NFL linebacker, he got by on toughness and effort.
Those attributes undoubtedly served him well in the Army Rangers, whom he joined in May 2002 after abandoning his career with the Cardinals. He moved from a violent game to the reality of war.
"Pat Tillman personified all the best values of his country and the NFL," Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "He was an achiever and leader on many levels who always put his team, his community, and his country ahead of his personal interests."
Serving their country
Tillman was the first NFL player killed in combat since Buffalo offensive tackle Bob Kalsu died in the Vietnam War in July 1970. Nineteen NFL players were killed in World War II.
Some 110 U.S. soldiers have died -- 39 of them in combat -- during Operation Enduring Freedom, which began in Afghanistan in late 2001.
Denver quarterback Jake Plummer was a teammate of Tillman for seven years, three at Arizona State and four with the Cardinals.
"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."
In college, Tillman 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 1997 Rose Bowl. The next season, Tillman was the Pac-10 defensive player of the year. He graduated summa cum laude in December 1997 with a marketing degree and a 3.84 grade-point average.
Turning pro
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 into a starting spot at safety.
In 2000, he broke the franchise record for tackles with 223. 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.
Six months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 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."
Keeping it quiet
Tillman never said a word publicly about his decision. When he returned from his Middle East tour of duty, Tillman, his wife, Marie, and brother Kevin joined the Cardinals for a game in Seattle last December. They spent five hours in McGinnis' hotel room the night before the game, talking.
"He was just so proud to be a member of the Rangers," McGinnis said. "That came through loud and clear."
Tillman turned down a more lucrative offer from the St. Louis Rams in 2001 to stay with the Cardinals. A year later, he walked away from a three-year, $3.6 million offer from Arizona to join the Army.
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