Right up his alley

Tillman's decision to spurn NFL fits his character

Some people might find it shocking that Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, a four-year NFL veteran, is leaving pro football to enlist in the Army. I don't find it shocking at all because Tillman is the antithesis of everything associated with the modern professional athlete (except for passion and just a little edgy madness; he's got plenty of those things).

A story: I interviewed Tillman in November 1997 for a Sports Illustrated feature. He was a senior linebacker at Arizona State, and on the day that I arrived in Tempe he was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, a huge honor for an undersized (5-foot-10, 180 pounds at the time) linebacker surviving on brains and stones. The award, it turns out, was a source of pride for Tillman, as was his 3.84 GPA and his graduation with a marketing degree in 3 1/2 years. But he would embrace none of it. "If I do that, I'm old news," he said.

At the end of a long talk, I asked Tillman if he had ever been arrested for anything. It's an intrusive question (interviewing is intrusive by definition), but it's one that I feel compelled to ask most athletes because many of them have been arrested and it's embarrassing to SI if the magazine doesn't know it. Some arrests are public record, some are expunged. The athlete doesn't have to tell the truth, but Tillman looked me square in the eye and said, "Yes." It turns out he got into trouble defending a friend in a fight during his senior year of high school. He was charged as a juvenile with felony assault and pled guilty, doing time on a work farm the summer before he entered Arizona State. Nickel-and-dime stuff. But here's the point: Tillman didn't have to tell me the truth, but he did. The guy is honest, period.

There were doubts back then about whether he could play in the NFL. He was surely much too small to play linebacker, probably too slow to play defensive back. But here's what then-Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder said about Tillman's pro chances: "I'm telling NFL people, 'If you don't want him on your team, don't draft him because he won't let you cut him.'"

The Cardinals picked him in the last round; he bulked up to nearly 200 pounds and became a starter in his first season. Hasn't moved since. Hasn't changed, either. The St. Louis Rams tried to sign him to a $9 million offer sheet last year, but Tillman turned it down to stay in Phoenix for less money, simply out of loyalty. There's a concept: loyalty. Before the 2001 season, he competed in a 70-mile triathlon in Maryland for the pure challenge of it. On the field, he remained a whirling dervish, a contact-loving maniac who played with reckless disregard for his body but with a savvy football-field intelligence.

And now he's taking a three-year break to enlist in the Army's special services division, beating the age cutoff. His brother, Kevin, is doing the same thing. Given that the United States remains in a constant state of frenzied patriotism, some might suggest that Tillman is exploiting the climate to make himself famous. They would be completely wrong. One, there are easier ways to curry goodwill from a flag-waving populace than enlisting in the Army for three years. Put a flag decal on the car. Visit a base. And two, Tillman is a road-not-taken cat. He does what he believes in doing. I'd love to share a foxhole with him. I'd love my son to share a foxhole with him.

Tillman says he'll resume his NFL career in three years. Again, naysayers will say that's impossible. They should reconsider.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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