Pat Tillman Biography

Athlete, professional football player, soldier. Born on November 6, 1976, in San Jose, California. The oldest of three sons, Tillman excelled at football in high school. He helped lead Leland High School to the Central Coast Division I Football Championship. After a scrape with the law over a fight, Tillman went to Arizona State University (ASU) on a scholarship.

At ASU, Tillman thrived on the field and in the classroom. The linebacker helped his team to achieve an undefeated season and to make to the 1997 Rose Bowl game. He won the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as the ASU Most Valuable Player of the Year in 1997. Tillman also earned awards for his performance as a student, winning the Clyde B. Smith Academic Award in 1996 and 1997, the Sporting News Honda Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1997, and the 1998 Sun Angel Student Athlete of Year.

Tillman was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the 1998 National Football League (NFL) draft. Over time, he earned his place as a starting player and set a new team record for the number of tackles in 2000. Loyal to his team, Tillman turned down a lucrative contract with the St. Louis Rams to stay with the Cardinals in 2001.

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Alexandria, Virginia, on September 11, 2001, changed the course of Tillman's life. He decided to put his professional career on hold and joined in the fight against terrorism. After finishing the 2001 season, he planned on enlisting in the U.S. Army with his younger brother Kevin. His decision to leave the sport to join the military garnered a lot of media attention. Some had a hard time believing that he would give up all of the perks and celebrity of being a professional athlete to fight for his country. Tillman turned down a three-year, $3.6 million contract with the Cardinals to do what he thought was right. Before starting his military service, Tillman married his high-school girlfriend Marie.

Tillman and his brother went through training to become Army Rangers and were assigned to the second battalion of 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington. Tillman went to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then he went to Afghanistan the next year to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom. Tillman was killed in action on April 22, 2004. There has been much confusion over the circumstances surrounding his death. At first, there were reports that he was killed by friendly fire during a clash with enemy forces. Later there were indications that there were no hostile troops involved. Still many questions remain unanswered about his untimely death.

The U.S. Army announced July 31, 2007, that it had censured Retired Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger for misleading investigators probing Tillman's death.  It also ordered a grade review board to consider whether Kensinger should be stripped of a star.  And on August 1, 2007, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testified there was no evidence of a cover-up of the circumstances of Tillman's death. 

After his death, Tillman was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. The two teams he played for—the ASU Sun Devils and the Arizona Cardinals—retired the numbers he wore as a tribute to this stellar athlete and soldier.

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