For those who don’t know: Pat Tillman was a safety for the Arizona Cardinals, played his college ball at Arizona State, and left the NFL to go fight in the Afghan war and was subsequently killed.
It is a “great” story, and something inspiring to tell kids and really shows the mindset of a guy who gave up fame and fortune for a higher cause. When he died his number was honored the entire NFL season, the Cardinals elected a statue in his honor…and might have retired his number (I can’t remember that). Every single one of these things is a great way of remembering a guy who deserves the respect of a nation, and our ultimate emulation.
I just read right now that he is to be elected into the College Football Hall of Fame. Now I am not taking anything away from his college career, his life as an NFL player, or his heroism to fight for our nation…but does he really deserve to be elected into the college HOF for this? Granted in college he was a starter, and clearly good enough to be drafted…but so are a lot of kids. He was also a started and a good player for his time in Arizona (however tragically short it was), but I don’t see the need to elect him in the HOF for it. This is almost overkill on awards and I think they are just electing him for the sake of electing him…because they can.
Is there a point where the accolades that someone gets for something gets to the point of inappropriateness? Are we going to elect him into the Pro HOF in Canton? IIRC he has a display inside of the museum and he absolutely should, it should never be taken down and should be there for future generations to see…but I hesitate to think that he needs to be elected into any HOF that should be based on his playing merits.
Although he should be a first ballot “Guys every future child should want to be like” hall of fame.
I’m not impressed with the CFB HOF, so I can’t really say anything toward your specific question. What stood out to me was that, last year, it elected Jim Donnan and his career winning percentage of something like .600, without bringining any real innovation to the game, no unusual success, no anything other than just being another better than average coach. So, I guess Tillman should be there because he’s a good guy who played football, but based on success on the field, I think there are many players with an argument to be in before Tillman. I think Tillman’s memory and the HOF would be better served with just a single exhibit in a section about 90s/00s football, stating what he did on and off the field.
I’m not that big of a football fan. I know who Pat Tillman is, even without looking it up. He’s therefore famous and thus belongs in the HOF. There’s no reason why the HOF needs to be reserved for people that display some prowess on the field.
Sigh… I certainly wouldn’t push for Tillman’s REMOVAL from the Hall of Fame, but I wouldn’t have voted for him.
I don’t think there’s any chance that Pat Tillman would have been elected solely on his merits as a football player, if he were still alive today.
From the little that I’ve seen and heard of him, Pat Tillman was an iconoclast of sorts and had a cynical sense of humor.I don’t think HE’D have felt particularly honored by a gesture like this. I think he might have felt patronized, instead.
If Tillman were a close call on his football merits, I wouldn’t mind voters using his heroism and death in combat to push him over the line. But in my opinion, he wasn’t all that close to being a Hall of Famer.
Moe Berg was a great man and a true hero, but he doesn’t belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb and Barry Bonds were contemptible human beings, but they DO belong.
In the same way, Tillman was a hero who does NOT belong in the college football Hall of Fame. OJ Simpson and Reggie Bush are creeps who DO belong.
You are taking the term “Hall of Fame” far too literally. It is not reserved as a “Hall of Celebrity” for the most famous individuals. It has always traditionally been designed to honor those who were at the very top of their sport. Whether Tillman was or not, YMMV, but the suggestion clearly is that his selection may have nothing to do with football at all.
Incidentally, the critically acclaimed documentary on his death will get released later this year.
I’m not that familiar with his college football career, but I strongly believe that HoF membership should be based on on-field performance, no matter how admirable or despicable the player is off the field. Based on Elvis’s link, it sounds like he should be ineligible according to strict interpretation of the rules.
If they wanted to have a special display or memorial for him at the Hall, that would be good with me, but it doesn’t sound like he deserves to be voted in.
As with Cooperstown, that’s what many folks assume. But nothing says so, officially.
The “first team All-America” standard includes many more players than I think would commonly be inferred from the phrase “very top of their sport.” (In fact, the CFBHOF has 980 members, including 183 coaches, while 2,868 players have been selected to AA “first teams.”)
So clearly the published rules are only a starting point, and there’s a huge subjective element.
What about all the guys (and I’m sure there are plenty) who put their sport on hold to serve their country, did their two-year stint or however long it is, and came home alive and continued playing football? Are they any less heroic than Pat Tillman? And does it really make sense to honor someone just for the fact that he died?
There are plenty from World War II, but I don’t think there are many at all (at the highest level of pro sports) from the era of (1) an all-volunteer army and (2) million-dollar pro sports contracts. Only guy I can think of off the top of my head is David Robinson, and he had committed to military service when he entered the Naval Academy.
I’ve noticed that the College Football HoF isn’t shy about choosing people based on off-the-field stuff, particularly achievements from well after college. Can’t think of any specific examples, though.
Well the College Hall of Fame invites many people for it’s own sake, rather than the player involved. Taking Pat Tillman gives them a mention on here and possibly on PTI and around the Horn etc. Otherwise the CFHoF may get a one mention for 10 seconds in the 11:30 Sportscenter once a year.
It’s just pretty much a non-entity publicity wise. I honestly doubt 1 in 100 college football fans could tell you where it is.
I think the season after he died, the Cardinals (at a bare minimum) or the entire NFL (my preference) should have honored him by coloring the yard marker “40” in cardinal red. That would have been the appropriate tribute for someone who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Four red “40”'s on the field would have been a much better tribute than the standard sticker on the helmet, or whatever they did for him.
I remember Jake Plummer wasn’t permitted to honor Pat Tillman by wearing his number or name (or something… I can’t recall), and I believe he was his college roommate.
Sometimes the NFL simply sucks. I don’t think it would have been a bad thing to do. It’s not like guys are lining up to join the military after Tillman did it. Whatever you might have thought of him as a player, he deserved our admiration for doing something very few (if any) people would even consider, yet alone do.
I’m still impressed by his choice. A very special person.