Pat Tillman

American athlete, a pro football player who gave up a lucrative pro football contract to join the military. His death in combat was initially touted as a hero’s death while fighting the enemy but was later categorized as death from friendly fire. Military investigations revealed that evidence had been destroyed and details covered up in initial reports of his death.

The oldest of three brothers, Tillman graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State in December 1997 with a marketing degree and a 3.84 grade-point average. An all-around athlete and avid rock climber, he enjoyed physical challenges and played football for the school. One story reports that he sometimes climbed the football field light towers that reach 200 feet into the air. He claimed that the perch on top made a good place to meditate. On the field, he was known as a hard-hitting wild man though he was undersized for a linebacker. Determined to play pro football, his dream came true in April 1998 when he was drafted by the Cardinals in the seventh round. In 2000 he broke the team's record for tackles. Coaches wanted him to slow down but he continued his streak of moving fast and furiously and hitting hard. Just for the challenge, he completed a marathon in 2000 and competed in a triathlon in 2001. In 2001, Tillman turned down a $9 million, five-year offer from another team, St. Louis Rams, who had just won a Super Bowl championship. Instead he stayed with the Cardinals where he earned less money, citing his loyalty to the team that had given him his start in the NFL.

But in 2002, he left the team, giving up his $3.6 million contract to join the military. His friends said he had been so deeply touched by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US that he wanted to serve his wounded country. Shortly after returning from his honeymoon with his high school sweetheart, Marie Ugenti, he enlisted in the Army on May 31, 2002.