Motivational Story - Pat Tillman (Arizona Cardinals / U.S. Army Rangers)


 

Greetings! I wanted this week to bring you a story just to make you think? What will your true purpose be one day beyond the days you put aside your uniform?

This person is one of my heroes in life! He is Pat Tillman, a former MVP of his college football team. Defensive Player-of-the-Year in the NCAA Pac-12 Conference. Former Pro Bowl player for the NFL Arizona Cardinals where he set their record for most tackles in a season. 

At the age of 25 back in 2001 and just entering the prime years of his life, Tillman became the enduring symbol of selfless patriotism. He stunned the sports world when he walked away from his NFL career, passed up a salary paying him (then almost) $4 Million a year to trade in uniforms and the fame, comfort and riches to become a soldier and enlist in the U.S. Army for three years. His starting base pay would be $1,290 dollars per month. 

Right after America was attacked in 2001, Tillman started to think how unimportant playing football suddenly seemed to him? That he would rather defend his country than an NFL secondary?

He told the media: "After these last few years, and especially after recent events in America, I've come to appreciate just how shallow and insignificant my role is as an athlete. . . It's no longer important. I really haven't done a Damm thing as far as laying myself on the line."

At the time of his enlistment, Tillman was offered the chance to go through the route of officer-training. He wanted no part of it and told Army officials he wished to start from the bottom of the military and work his way up. He would be given the rank of specialist, just a few steps above private.

He then signed up to become a member of the Army Rangers, considered the most elite soldiers in the world. However, the training over a two month period, was among the most gruesome and rigid that made the NFL, the most physically demanding sport in America, pale in comparison. 

As a Ranger, Tillman would serve in several tours of duty, including time in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he would die at the young age of 27.

At Tillman's memorial service, then Arizona Senator John McCain said: "While many of us will be blessed to live a longer life, few of us will ever live a better one. I never had the honor of meeting Pat Tillman, and I'm the poorer for it." 

We are all wired differently - yet each of us has a story to tell, an opportunity to make a contribution to society, to be a difference maker and a champion away from your game. Never forget that OK? 

Jim Loria


MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES RELATING TO THIS STORY 

“Spirit has fifty times the strength and staying power of brawn and muscle" – stated by an Unknown Author

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"Where the heart is willing, it will find a thousand ways. Where it is unwilling, it will find a thousand excuses" – stated by Arlen Price, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania 

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"You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth" – stated by an Unknown Author


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