Pat Tillman was an American football player who hung up his cleats, and joined the United States Army in May 2002.
Tillman was 27 years old when he was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004.
He excelled at football from an early age and eventually secured a football scholarship to Arizona State University. Tillman played for the Sun Devils for four years, even taking his team to the Rose Bowl his junior year.
His accolades as a football star and student are numerous: 1997 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, 1996 and 1997 Clyde B. Smith Academic Award, 1997 the Sporting News Honda Scholar-Athlete of the Year, to name a few.
After a successful run with ASU, Tillman was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He played safety for the team and started ten of sixteen games in his rookie year.
Tillman and his brother, Kevin, enlisted in the armed forces in May 2002; Tillman abandoning a pro-football career and his brother walking away from a professional baseball career.
Tillman was later deployed to Afghanistan. The Army initially reported that he had been killed by an enemy ambush, but after an investigation into the incident, his death was ruled as friendly-fire.
To keep his memory alive, 28,000 people will come together on April 25 for the 11th annual Pat's Run.
Online registration for the event is closed, but walk-up registration is still available.
For more information, go to patsrun.com.
