Article on Pat Tillman

[Stronso]

Really good article on Pat from the San Jose Mercury News

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/6314211.htm

 

[MadCardDisease]

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One Bad Ass dude!




"Silent courage
TILLMANS HONORED FOR MOVE FROM SPORTS TO ARMY
By Mark Emmons
Mercury News


(MIKE HASKEY/COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER)

We don't know for sure why Pat Tillman walked away from the NFL and a $3.6 million contract to join the Army. He has not said one word publicly since he and his brother Kevin, a former minor-league baseball player, enlisted more than a year ago.

And so it should come as no surprise that the two Leland High graduates, safely returned from the war in Iraq, won't be in Hollywood tonight to receive ESPN's Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

They're being honored for their decision to wear different uniforms after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, serving with the elite 75th Ranger Regiment. But it's left to younger brother Richard to accept the recognition during the ESPY Awards telecast.

``They're pleased, but they've never done any of this for show,'' said their father, San Jose lawyer Patrick Tillman.

Courage, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. In sports, a wide receiver cutting across the middle is considered courageous. So is cyclist Lance Armstrong, for overcoming cancer as he continues his quest to win a fifth consecutive Tour de France. To some, Manhattanville College basketball player Toni Smith also showed courage this year when she created a stir by turning her back on the U.S. flag during the national anthem as a form of protest.

Then there are the Tillman brothers.

``They've forced us to keep in perspective our hyperbole about how much courage people have in sports,'' said Peter Roby, director of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. ``All you can do is admire their desire to protect the country. This is the ultimate sign of courage.''

Extraordinary act honored

Let's be honest. The ESPYs are a contrived show created by a cable network to draw attention to itself and fill empty airtime during one of the year's slowest sports weeks.

That said, the Ashe Award -- named for the late, dignified tennis great and given for contributions that transcend sports -- has been presented to some impressive figures, including Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, Cathy Freeman, Dean Smith and Jim Valvano.

The recognition is a reminder just how out of the ordinary it was for Pat Tillman -- an undersized overachiever at safety with the Arizona Cardinals -- to quit a life that most people could only dream of having.

``He's certainly a throwback to athletes in the '40s and '50s, who were either called up in the draft or volunteered to go fight in a war,'' Roby said. ``The difference is the financial implications are so much greater today. The gap is much larger today between what athletes and everybody else makes.''

Harry Gailey, a retired San Jose State professor and author of six military history books, notes that when the United States was drawn into World War II after Pearl Harbor, people of all classes rushed to enlist, from sports greats such as Ted Williams to film stars like Jimmy Stewart.

``You can run down a long list of famous people who enlisted,'' Gailey said.

As horrific as Sept. 11 was, it didn't generate that same sort of groundswell to join the military. And Tillman, 26, was the only prominent athlete to take up arms. Gailey said that's partly a factor of the war on terrorism's nebulousness. It's harder to know exactly who we're fighting, unlike in 1941, when Japan and Germany were the clear enemies.

``But obviously, when we were attacked this time, he must have felt that what he was doing wasn't important in the grandiose scheme of things,'' Gailey added. ``He sounds like a real first-rate person. He did not do it for any publicity stunt. And considering that he was giving up a lucrative career, I don't know what he would have gained even if it was.''

Low profile

Instead of looking for publicity, the brothers have gone Greta Garbo. They have been completely silent, refusing every media request.

They also have encouraged those close to them to avoid talking to the media, although ESPN has said that friends and family will be speaking about the two in a tribute piece tonight.

``Their program has always been to keep it as quiet as possible,'' Patrick Tillman said, choosing his words carefully. ``You can't even sneak any information out of me because I don't have it. Sorry, but they don't even tell me anything.''

The one thing he can say is his sons are ``happy about what they've done. They have no reservations.''

When the Tillmans enlisted, they had the goal of becoming Rangers -- a light-infantry, quick-strike force that is one of the military's top combat units.

Carol Darby, the news media chief for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, said she didn't know specifically where the Tillmans had been in Iraq. But the 75th Rangers saw extensive action during the fighting.

The regiment, Darby said, participated in an early airborne operation into Baghdad, the seizure of airfields and the taking of Haditha Dam. Rangers also were involved in the return of captured Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in An-Nasiriyah.

Translation: There's a good chance that the Tillmans were in the thick of it somewhere.

``Knowing the Ranger mindset, I understand where they're coming from,'' Darby added of the Tillmans' desire not to draw attention to themselves. ``You have to be so totally focused on your training and the Ranger beside you. A Ranger never loses that focus because it comes down to life and death when you've been doing what they've done the last few months.''

For now, the Tillmans are at Fort Lewis, outside Tacoma, Wash. Darby said their battalion is in re-fit mode ``so they can prepare for whatever goes in the future.''

Discovering real heroes

Someone who wasn't overly impressed with Pat Tillman's call to duty was Simeon Rice, a former Cardinals teammate who now is with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earlier this year, on Jim Rome's national radio show, Rice said Tillman ``wasn't that good, not really.'' He went on to imply that Tillman probably wasn't going to be around the NFL much longer anyway, so joining the Army was no big deal.

Only after Rome gave him repeated opportunities to amend his comments did Rice finally say, ``I think it's very admirable, actually.'' He added of Tillman's motivation: ``Maybe it was the Rambo movies? Maybe it's Sylvester Stallone and Rocky?''

But Rice's attitude is the exception. In fact, Northeastern's Roby said athletes, as a group, get a bad rap when it comes to being self-absorbed and oblivious to the larger world around them.

``What we heard from almost all athletes after 9-11 was that they had seen what true heroism was from people like the firefighters and police officers,'' he said. ``Athletes were humbled and realized that this is what a real hero should be defined as, opposed to what we consider heroic acts on the playing field.

``There's just no comparison, and the Tillmans are living that right now.''"

 

[Jersey Girl]

Thanks for posting. Am looking forward to watching the Espys tonight. (Did I actually just write that? Hmmmm.)

 

[wisemonkey]

Tillman - class act vs. Rice - no class

Can you believe Simeon Rice's comments?:

Someone who wasn't overly impressed with Pat Tillman's call to duty was Simeon Rice, a former Cardinals teammate who now is with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earlier this year, on Jim Rome's national radio show, Rice said Tillman ``wasn't that good, not really.'' He went on to imply that Tillman probably wasn't going to be around the NFL much longer anyway, so joining the Army was no big deal.

What a jerk!

 

[AZ1766]

Re: Tillman - class act vs. Rice - no class

Originally posted by wisemonkey
Can you believe Simeon Rice's comments?:

Someone who wasn't overly impressed with Pat Tillman's call to duty was Simeon Rice, a former Cardinals teammate who now is with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earlier this year, on Jim Rome's national radio show, Rice said Tillman ``wasn't that good, not really.'' He went on to imply that Tillman probably wasn't going to be around the NFL much longer anyway, so joining the Army was no big deal.

What a jerk!

that was the nice version... I was listening to the show, when he was talking about Tillman. He said Tillman was not starting material, he was only starting because he was in Arizona....
What a jerk is correct.