Pat Tillman: early life, career, death

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

In this article, let's talk about a wonderful person - Pat Tillman. We will discuss his early life and career, and pay attention to the details of his death.

Early life

Pat Tillman was born on November 6, 1976 in San Jose, California, USA. When the young man was 18 years old, he became seriously interested in sports, namely American football, and was accepted into the Arizona State University team, in which he played as a linebacker. Tillman's height was 180 cm. To play well in this position, this was not enough, but against all odds, Pat began to show good results in the game, and in his senior year he was recognized as the best defenseman among the players of the Pacific Conference. In 1998, Pat successfully graduated from the university with a degree in marketing. The final average score of the young man was 3.84.

Career

After graduating, Pat Tillman entered the 1998 NFL Draft, which resulted in him being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. In his first season as a professional player, Pat played 10 of 16 games with the club and secured the linebaker position, and two years later he completely set a team record forteklam.

In early May 2002, the leadership of the team from Arizona offered Pat Tillman a new contract, the amount of which was $ 3.6 million, but unexpectedly for everyone, the player refused. Later it will become known that Pat, together with his brother Kevin, who abandoned the career of a baseball player, enlisted in the US Army. Toward the end of 2002, the brothers successfully completed the Ranger training course and were sent to the second battalion of the 75th regiment, which was located in Fort Lewis, Washington, USA. During his entire military service, Pat managed to visit Iraq and Afghanistan, where the hostilities took place.

Death

On April 22, 2004, it was reported that Pat Tillman, who was on patrol near Khost Province, was caught in the crossfire and killed. According to the first version of the investigation, Tillman, along with his detachment, being forty kilometers southwest of the village of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, was ambushed and died as a result of a shootout with terrorists. The guy posthumously received the rank of corporal, and was also awarded such awards as the Silver Star and Purple Heart. His body was brought home and buried in a military cemetery.

A month later, the military investigation published the second version of the death of Pat Tillman. It said that he came under "friendly fire", that is, he was killed by soldiers from the American army, this information was carefully hiddenfrom the press. In the course of further investigation, it became known that the command had initially known the true cause of the soldier's death.

Memory and interesting facts

Paid tribute to a player like Pat Tillman and American football. On September 19, 2004, a game was played with mourning stickers on NFL helmets, and the player's former team, the Arizona Cardinals, spent the entire season with the same stickers. The game number 40 was later completely withdrawn from the use of the team, since Pat had previously played under it. So did the team of his university - "Sun Devils" - with game number 42, under which the young man played earlier. The area where the Cardinals' stadium is located was named after Pat: Pat Tillman Liberty Square. A little later, a bronze monument was erected to the former player.

The bridge, located on the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada and laid across the Colorado River, is named after two heroes from neighboring states: "Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge". Pat's death was widely discussed in the American media, during the military investigation, Donald Rumsfeld, who was the former US Secretary of Defense, testified.