Honoring Pat Tillman

I've been a Cardinals fan for as long as I can remember. No, I can't explain why. I was born and raised outside of Philly, so I should've been an Eagles fan. But I'm not. The Cards have... well, pretty much sucked my entire life. So I should've been a fan of any-team-other-than-the-Cardinals. But I'm not.

Pat Tillman was a talented professional athelete. He should've left the losing team he was on and signed with a winning team (for more money). But he didn't. He should've been more concerned with signing bonuses and other selfish crap (ala Terrell Owens) than defending his country. But he wasn't.

Long before Pat Tillman left with his baseball playing brother to join the Army, I was a fan. Playing your heart out on a winning team is one thing. One could say it's almost an 'easy' thing. But playing your heart out on a losing team, that's another thing. He played his heart out on the field. He wasn't the biggest guy on the field but you didn't want to get hit by him. More often than not, where ever the tackle was made, you could lay odds that you'd see the #40 coming away from it after the whistle blew. Pat Tillman was one of those guys that embodied the old saying "It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog." He left it all on the field and was loyal to his team. Two things I really respect.

As most folks know, after the attacks of September 11th, he and his brother joined the Army to defend America, to take the fight to those who would kill their fellow Americans. He didn't make a big deal out of it. He refused repeated calls for interviews. He refused special treatment from the Army.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in this world where the good guys die young and the [pardon the language] assholes of the world (yes Terrell, I mean you) keep on keeping on, he was killed in Afghanistan.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association are selling jerseys and donating proceeds to the Pat Tillman Foundation. Jerseys can be purchased at Sun Devil Stadium, azcardinals.com, NFLShop.com, and on military bases around the world.