Pat Tillman

"Somewhere inside we heard a voice. It leads us in the direction of whom we wish to become. But it is up to us whether or not to follow."

- Pat Tillman

Pat Tillman was a professional football player who attended Arizona State University (ASU) and had his jersey (#40) retired by the college. Tillman played on the Arizona Cardinals from 1998-2000. After the 9/11 attacks in New York Tillman retired from the Cardinals and enlisted in the United States Army. Pat was killed on April 22, 2004 and was posthumously promoted from specialist to Corporal. On September 6, 2006 the Cardinals erected his statue on the Pat Tillman plaza in the University of Phoenix Stadium.

Early Life
Patrick Daniel Tillman was born on November 6, 1976, in Fremont, California, to Mary and Patrick Kevin Tillman. Pat Tillman began his successful football career as a linebacker at Bret Harte Middle School. During High School, he met his future wife Marie Ungeti. As a high school linebacker at Leland High School he helped them get to the Central Coast Division I Football Championship. Despite losing, Patrick attended University of Arizona (ASU) on a football scholarship. With the help of Tillman ASU went undefeated and made it to the Rose bowl. He was also named Pac-10 defensive player of the year and later Pac-12 defensive player of the year in 1997. The Sun Devils would later retire Tillman's #42.

NFL Career
Pat was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals seventh round (226 overall) during the 1998 draft. Tillman moved from linebacker to safety and started 10/16 games his rookie season. During his 4-year football career on the Cardinals he would turn down a $9 million contract offer from the Rams out of loyalty to the Cardinals. After the attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, Tillman would finish the the 01' season before enlisting in the United States Army. Tillman would be replaced by safety Adrian Wilson. Before enlisting, Pat would marry Marie Ungeti

Military Career and Death
Tillman and his brother Kevin enlisted on May 31, 2002. In September 2002, they completed basic training together. The two brothers completed the Ranger Indoctrination Program in late 2002 and were assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion in Fort Lewis, Washington. Tillman resided in University Place with his wife before being deployed to Iraq. After participating in the initial invasion of Operation Iraqi Freedom Tillman was redeployed to Afghanistan. On April 22, 2004, Patrick Tillman was killed. At first it was reported that Tillman was killed by an ambush, however, later investigations proved that he was killed by friendly fire. The CID Report summary, dated March 19, 2007, stated that:

''during their movement through the canyon road, Serial 2 [Tillman's platoon had to split up because of a broken Humvee; the parts were called Serial 1 and 2] was ambushed and became engaged in a running gun battle with enemy combatants. Serial 1 [Tillman's portion of the platoon] had just passed through the same canyon without incident and were approximately one kilometer ahead of Serial 2. Upon hearing explosions, gunfire, and sporadic radio '' communication from Serial 2, Serial 1 dismounted their vehicles and moved on foot, to a more advantageous position to provide overwatch and fire support for Serial 2's movement out of the ambush.

Upon entering the gorge, and despite attempts by Serial 1 to signal a "friendly position", occupants of the lead vehicle of Serial 2 opened fire upon Tillman's position, where he was fatally shot.

Tillman was posthumously promoted to corporal.

Legacy
After his death, the Pat Tillman Foundation was established to carry forward its view of Tillman's legacy by inspiring and supporting those striving for positive change in themselves and the world.

A highway bypass around the Hoover Dam has a bridge bearing Tillman's name.

Lincoln Law School of San Jose has established the Pat Tillman Scholarship in honor of Tillman.

On Sunday, September 19, 2004, all teams of the NFL wore a memorial decal on their helmets in honor of Tillman. The Arizona Cardinals continued to wear this decal throughout the 2004 season. Former Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer requested to also wear the decal for the entire season, but the NFL turned him down, saying his helmet would not be uniform with the rest of the Denver Broncos. Plummer later grew a full beard and his hair long in honor of Tillman, who had such a style in the NFL before cutting his hair and shaving his beard off to fit military uniform guidelines. The Cardinals retired his number 40, and Arizona State did the same for the number 42 he wore with the Sun Devils.

The Cardinals have named the plaza surrounding their University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale Pat Tillman Freedom Plaza. Later, on November 12, 2006, during a Cardinals game versus the Cowboys, a bronze statue was revealed in his honor. ASU also named the football locker room entryway to Sun Devil Stadium the "Pat Tillman Memorial Tunnel" and made a "PT-42" patch that they place on the neck of their uniforms as a permanent feature.

On Saturday, April 15, 2006, more than 10,000 participants turned out for 1st Annual Pat's Run (the annual, central fundraising event for the Pat Tillman Foundation) in Tempe, Arizona. The racers traveled along the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) course around Tempe Town Lake to the finish line, on the 42-yard line of Sun Devil Stadium in order to commemorate the number which Tillman wore as a Sun Devil and which was later retired in his honor. A second "shadow" race took place in San Jose, California, around the country at the same time as Pat's Run. Sponsored by the Pat Tillman Foundation, a total of 14,000 runners took part. In 2005, about 6,000 took part in a single race in Tempe. Since then, Pat's Run has continued to grow every year, with more than 28,000 attendees in April 2010. The Pat Tillman USO Center, the first USO center in Afghanistan, was opened on Bagram Air Base on April 1, 2005.

The Pac-10 Conference renamed its annual defensive player-of-the-year award to the Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Tillman's high school, Leland High School in San Jose, renamed its football field after him and a memorial of him was constructed near the Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

Two books about Tillman were published in 2009. Jon Krakauer chronicles Tillman's story in Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, published by Doubleday on September 15. Also, Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, also wrote a book about her son, Boots on the Ground by Dusk, which was released in April 2008.

Following Tillman's death, the Ohio State Linebackers A. J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel, as well as center Nick Mangold, grew their hair in tribute to Tillman, imitating Tillman's trademark locks.

In September 2008, Rory Fanning, a fellow Army Ranger who was stationed with Tillman in Fort Lewis, Washington, began his "Walk for Pat" – a walk across the United States in an effort to raise money and awareness for the Pat Tillman Foundation. The stated fundraising goal is $3.6 million—the value of the contract Tillman turned down when he decided to enlist in the military.