‘Drive’ never waned

Those who played with or coached Pat Tillman knew he was special well before he forsook the money and glory of being an NFL starter for duty with the Army Rangers in 2002.

Then-Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis will never forget the first time he was on the field with undersized prospective draftee Tillman in 1998.

“It was intended to be a 15-minute workout, but it turned into 45 minutes because Pat wouldn’t stop until he executed every drill perfectly,” recalled McGinnis, Tillman’s coach in 2000 and 2001 and now Tennessee’s assistant head coach. “That was the type of drive, passion, commitment that Pat had. He did everything full speed. We had to gear him down sometimes in practice because Pat only knew one speed. That’s how he pursued every goal in life. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a more dedicated person.”

The 27-year-old Tillman, who died Thursday after a firefight with anti-coalition militia about 25 miles southwest of a U.S. base in Afghanistan, seemingly had all he could want before his enlistment. He had set the Cardinals’ record for tackles in 2000 and had been offered a three-year, $3.6million contract after his third year as a starter. He was a newlywed.

However, Tillman, the first NFL player killed in action since Buffalo guard Bob Kalsu in Vietnam in 1970, returned from his honeymoon in May 2002 with his mind set on defending his country for the next three years in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

“Pat had it all, and he chose to set it aside to defend our freedom,” said Green Bay Packers special assistant Vince Tobin, Tillman’s first head coach in Arizona. “Pat should be an inspiration to all players and to all of us.”

Tillman certainly inspired his teammates.

“If you could pick one player to be on your team it would be Pat. That’s who you’d want in the foxhole,” said Houston Texans defensive tackle Corey Sears, who played with Tillman in Arizona. “When we were losing week after week, he told me he would keep fighting, and I told him that I would, too. All the guys that complain about it being too hot or they don’t have enough money — that’s not real life. A real-life thing is, Pat died for what he believed in. I’m going to go extra hard because I know that Pat was over there going extra hard.”

Tillman always went extra hard. He was the 1997 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year as a 5-foot-11, 204-pound linebacker for Arizona State while earning a 3.84 grade point average and graduating in 31/2 years. Tillman not only made the 1998 Cardinals as a seventh-round pick, he started as a rookie after making the transition to safety. Tobin credits Tillman’s play at linebacker in a revamped defense in a December victory over New Orleans with helping propel the Cardinals to their first playoff berth in 16 years.

Tobin recalled that Tillman was one of the few players to call him after the coach was fired by the Cardinals in 2000. McGinnis noted that Tillman turned down a five-year, $9million offer from St. Louis as a restricted free agent in 2001 out of loyalty to the organization that had taken a chance on him three years earlier.

“Pat was a very good player, but that pales in comparison with the things that he had as a human being,” said Rams defensive coordinator Larry Marmie, Tillman’s first position coach in the NFL.

Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, who played with Tillman at Arizona State and with the Cardinals, said his seven-year teammate touched many lives “with his love for life, his toughness and his intellect.”

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Tillman “personified all the best values of his country and the NFL.”

Tillman turned down all interview requests after joining the Army because he didn’t want to be singled out from his fellow soldiers.

“Pat always shunned the limelight and I’m sure he would want that continued, but his life deserves to be celebrated and for his story to be told,” McGinnis said.