Tillman opts for military over career in NFL

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Pat Tillman would sit in silence and solitude 200 feet above the playing field at Sun Devil Stadium and lose himself in the beauty of a desert night.

His weekly communion with nature came after a perilous climb up a stadium light tower. He made his ascents without a safety harness or company, except for the birds that occasionally buzzed him on his way up the narrow ladder. Tillman's football coaches at Arizona State would have been aghast if they had known their star defensive player was risking his life every Thursday night for a panoramic view of the nearby buttes, airport and twinkling lights of Tempe and Phoenix.

For Tillman, however, the reward far outweighed the danger. He selected his secret meditation spot because nobody else would visit it unless, of course, a light bulb needed to be changed.

"If you don't know Pat, then you would think he's crazy," said Phil Snow, who coached Tillman as ASU's defensive coordinator. "He's just fearless."

That much was evident in May when Tillman walked away from a professional football career and multimillion-dollar contract offer in May to enlist in the Army and pursue his dream of becoming a Ranger. Instead of focusing his cross-hairs on running backs in the open field, the Arizona Cardinals safety will begin basic training at Fort Benning on Monday, aiming for membership in the army's elite light infantry unit.

Tillman's decision didn't exactly surprise his long-time friends because he has always viewed the world from a different perspective.

"Pat is the type of person who needs challenges," said Mark Brand, ASU associate athletic director. "When I heard what he was doing, I knew it was perfect."

Somehow it seemed so right, so fitting that the 25-year-old Tillman walked into the Cardinals headquarters, told team owner Bill Bidwell and the coaching staff of his plan to serve his country, then vanished.

This, after all, is a guy who turned down a five-year, $9 million contract offer from the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams last year because of his loyalty to the perennially lousy Arizona team that selected him in the seventh round of the 1998 NFL draft. As for why Tillman turned his back on the Cardinals' offer of a three-year, $3.6 million deal in order to take on a three-year military hitch that will pay him no more than $18,000 a year, there are no easy answers.

A horde of media outlets have tried to get inside Tillman's head, but he won't receive any visitors. Tillman has declined all interview requests through his Stockton, Calif.-based agent, Frank Bauer, as well as the Cardinals media relations office.

After marrying his high-school sweetheart, Marie, in early May and returning from a honeymoon in Bora Bora, Tillman and his younger brother, Kevin, traveled from Arizona to Denver to enlist and avoid the glare of the media spotlight. Several of Tillman's confidantes say the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks influenced his decision.

"I was at his wedding and had a conversation with him about the NFL," said Lyle Setencich, former Arizona State linebackers coach. "He mentioned he might get out of it. I asked him if he wanted to go to law school and he kind of smiled and said, 'There are a lot of things I can do.'

While pro football may have been Tillman's initial career outlet, he's never allowed himself to be defined by his job. Those who know him well say he has never been motivated by money or fame, which makes him a novelty in modern sports culture.

Many of his teammates own the ultimate athlete status symbols — SUVs filled with enough TV monitors, stereo speakers and DVDs to stock a Circuit City. Tillman continues to live as the struggling seventh-round draft pick he once was, driving a basic, home entertainment center-free Jeep Cherokee and resisting the temptation to buy a cellphone.

"He's a happy, carefree kind of surfer dude," said Brand.

The test ahead

To become a Ranger, Tillman will have to endure a crucible far more torturous than a 16-game NFL season. Only 35 percent of all Ranger candidates get to wear the coveted black-and-gold Ranger Tab on their left shoulders. It's a badge of honor bestowed on those who withstand the countless pushups, parachute drops and mortar shots that make up almost a year of training.

"Mental toughness separates those that drive on," said retired Army Capt. Todd Bearden, a former Ranger. "It's being able to get up at 0-dark-30 every morning, doing what needs to be done, then getting up and doing it again. When you take away somebody's sleep and somebody's food and push them to the limit, it changes the dynamics of everything."

In order to earn his place with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Tillman will go through basic training and unit training at Fort Benning's Sand Hill. The next step is jump school and a three-week Ranger Indoctrination Program. After that, Tillman would be assigned to a Ranger Battalion at Fort Benning, Savannah, Ga., or Fort Lewis.

His performance there would determine how soon he could move on to the next step, a three-week pre-Ranger program that sets the stage for a three-phase, 61-day Ranger School training at Fort Benning, Dahlonega, Ga., and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Making a name for himself

As a lightly recruited high-school player, Tillman received the last scholarship Arizona State had to offer in 1994. When then-head coach Bruce Snyder told him he would be redshirted as a freshman and have a difficult time earning playing time until his junior year, Tillman was undeterred.

"That's fine," Snyder remembers Tillman saying, "but I plan on graduating in four years."

Tillman graduated with a marketing degree, a 3.84 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) and summa cum laude honors in three years. Once an afterthought in his recruiting class, Tillman finished his career as the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Arizona chose him in the seventh round of the 1998 NFL draft with the 225th pick, which meant a gallon of milk should have outlasted his stay in training camp. Three years later, Tillman set a single-season franchise record with 224 tackles.

That's why Brand and others believed Tillman when he told them he will return to the NFL after completing his military obligation. That's why they expect him to become a Ranger and perform heroic acts in Afghanistan or any other danger zone in which he may find himself.

"Everywhere he's been, he's beaten the odds," Brand said. "If Osama bin Laden is alive, Pat will get him. There's no doubt, it'll be Pat."