Pat Tillman never did anything conventionally.
Not only did he graduate from ASU a semester early with a 3.84 GPA, he did it as a starting linebacker for the football team. He played in the 1996-97 Rose Bowl against Ohio State, and Sun Devils will always remember the game as one of ASU's closest and most heartbreaking losses.
The Arizona Cardinals drafted him in April 1998 and started him as a safety. Although many said he was too small and too slow for the league, Tillman began a promising career in the NFL.
But the events of Sept. 11 put the NFL on hold and changed Tillman's career path.
When he was interviewed about the attacks, he said something that was typical Tillman.
"My great grandfather was at Pearl Harbor, and a lot of my family ... has gone and fought in wars, and I really haven't done a damn thing as far as laying myself on the line like that," he said.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks, Tillman turned down a three-year, $3.6 million contract with the Cardinals in 2002. By turning down that contract, Tillman walked away from fame, fortune and the game he loved to enlist with the U.S. Army Rangers, an elite branch of the military for which he would be paid $18,000 a year.
When word hit ASU on Friday that Tillman had been killed in a firefight in east Afghanistan the night before, the war on terror seemed closer to home than it ever had.
ASU Athletic Director Gene Smith talked about the face Tillman puts on all the soldiers fighting overseas.
"Hopefully, it's what people will do when they talk about who he was and what he was about and actually tie a personality into what has happened in [Iraq and Afghanistan]," he said.
What seemed like only a distant, faceless concept before has become a reality. Young Americans are still fighting, and we need to start paying more attention.
Tillman's death symbolizes not only the deaths of hundreds of troops fighting in the Middle East, but the unique sacrifice he made when he became an Army Ranger instead of keeping an NFL career filled with potential.
America has good reason to be proud of him; ASU's is greater.
To know Tillman strolled down Palm Walk, ate in the Memorial Union and was a true Sun Devil has special meaning for every student on campus. As Sun Devils, we can all take a little more pride in our quiet hero, but to Sun Devils, Tillman's death hits harder, making the reality of war a little more shocking. This week, we should all take a moment from our busy class and work schedules to stop by Tillman's memorial in front of Sun Devil Stadium and pay our respects.
We'll never forget Pat Tillman: American hero, fallen soldier, and ASU Sun Devil.
