#IMAGINE DESERT WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL#

In 1997, he was voted the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. As a junior, he helped his team go undefeated that season as well as helping them make it to the Rose Bowl that year. Tillman excelled as a linebacker at Arizona State, despite being relatively small for the position at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) tall. He started his college career as a linebacker for Arizona State University in 1994, when he secured the last remaining scholarship for the team. He also was very close with his brother, Kevin, who enlisted with and served alongside him. Tillman was very committed to his high school sweetheart, Marie Ugenti, whom he married shortly before his enlistment in the Army. He repeatedly mentioned in his personal journals during wartime service that he drew strength from and deeply valued his closest friendships, parents, wife and family.

Tillman was very close to his family and high school friends. Tillman then went to Arizona State University on a football scholarship.

In his sophomore year he decided to concentrate on football. In his freshman year of high school, he was catcher for his baseball team, but did not make the varsity team. He went to Bret Harte Middle School and helped lead Leland High School to the Central Coast Division I Football Championship. The oldest of three sons, with Kevin and Richard as the other two, Tillman played competitive football. Tillman was born on November 6, 1976, in Fremont, California, the son of Mary (Spalding) and Patrick Kevin Tillman. He also posthumously received the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals. Tillman was posthumously promoted from specialist to corporal.

In 2007, the Pentagon released a report ruling Tillman's death as accidental. The family and other critics allege that the Department of Defense delayed the disclosure until weeks after Tillman's memorial service out of a desire to protect the image of the U.S. A month later, on May 28, 2004, the Pentagon notified the Tillman family that he was actually killed by fire from his own side. At first, the Army reported that Tillman had been killed by enemy fire. Īfter playing four seasons in the NFL, Tillman joined the Army Rangers and served several combat tours before he was killed in the mountains of Afghanistan. His service in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as subsequent death, were the subject of national attention after it was revealed that he was killed by friendly fire.

#IMAGINE DESERT WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL#

(November 6, 1976 – April 22, 2004) was an American professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) who left his sports career and enlisted in the United States Army in May 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

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