Blake Hall
If you click on the video above, it’ll play, and when it does you’ll see and hear the bold and true ethos of a man circa 2001, right after September 11 — a date that would forever alter the trajectory of his life and inspire him to do the unthinkable: turn down $3.6 million to play football in the National Football League and enlist in the United States Army.
The man, as you probably already know, is Pat Tillman. Army Ranger Pat Tillman. This Wednesday marks 11 years since he was tragically killed in Afghanistan, the victim of friendly combat fire.
It’s no secret that his death was (and in many ways still is) the swirling center of controversy for quite some time. His family and the Pentagon went back and forth for years in a tussle over the truth — it’s well documented. And while that specific thread has its place in history, and should be remembered (at the very least — so it’s not doomed to be repeated) it’s best to focus on Tillman himself and remember his unique spirit and dynamic character.
Few things written capture his famous essence better than Gary Smith’s 2006 Sports Illustrated story “Remember His Name”.
Below is a snippet of the opening paragraph. It’s from the point-of-view of fellow Ranger Russ Baer, and mentions a photograph that can be seen below — one that seems to perfectly encapsulate the largesse of Tillman’s soul. A soul that, according to those who knew him well, they’ll never forget.
“One day … he was going to point to that picture on the kid’s bedroom shelf of the man doing a handstand on the roof of a house, take a deep breath and say, Mav, that’s a man who lived a life as pure and died a death as muddy as any man ever to walk this rock … “
