Simeon Rice heard the news and knew the questions were coming.
Former Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, who left the NFL to join the Army Rangers in June 2002, had been killed Thursday night in a firefight while on combat patrol in Afghanistan. The Bucs defensive end had questioned Tillman's playing ability after he left the league and taken a public lashing for doing so.
"It's not a day at all for me to defend myself," Rice said Friday. "It's Pat's day. It's a day to reflect on a friend and teammate. Regardless of the issue, we were teammates. We were friends. I wanted to see him do well, and I wanted to see him come home. (What was said) has nothing to do with him being a patriot, an American hero. I mourn him."
On a nationally syndicated radio show, Rice had said Tillman "really wasn't that good."
Pressed by host Jim Rome, Rice responded: "He really wasn't good enough to start in the NFL. ... That's how bad it is in Arizona. ... I think it's very admirable, actually in all seriousness, I think it's admirable."
Many thought Rice's comments minimized Tillman's sacrifice. Friday, Rice said it is that sacrifice, not his comments, that should be the important issue.
"That doesn't slight Pat, at all," Rice said. "It was just one opinion. We're talking about a great, great person. A free thinker, a great soldier and a great citizen. Look, the essence of who we are isn't shaped by us being football players or by the emblem we wear on our helmet. It's about what we do as a person and what he did was heroic. It's measured by the things we do and say that have compelling (impacts) on other people's lives. Those are the things that summarize who Pat was."
Drafted in the seventh round in 1998 (226th overall) out of Arizona State, Tillman began emerging as a formidable defensive presence on a team with few stars. His best season was 2000 when he had 224 tackles. Through four seasons, Tillman played 60 games with 39 starts and had 331 career tackles and three interceptions.
Rice, who played with Tillman for three seasons (1998-2000), said he has fond memories of the safety's tenacity, fearless spirit and unconventional approach to things.
"I knew Pat," he said. "I knew his ways. I knew how he was. He brought a book every time he traveled. When other guys (would be) listening to music, he would be reading. This cat never wore a coat. He wore flannels when it was cold out. He was a man. He was a guy who was going to give you all he could."
Rice said people who knew Tillman's personality likely weren't too stunned that he would give up a lucrative NFL career to become an Army Ranger, and place himself at the front lines of war.
"He lived life the way it was supposed to be lived, all out, all the way and he had the courage all the time," Rice said. "He loved the challenge of life. He felt like there was a need for Americans to volunteer and he was one of those people who did something about it. I know this, he made a difference in the lives of the guys he fought with."
Rice has lost an aunt and two friends in the past two weeks. He said those deaths and the 27-year-old Tillman's have helped him put things in perspective and given him a sense of how insignificant football is.
"Life is really speaking to me right now," he said. "It's a unique situation. It's unfortunate things like that had to happen and I really feel for his parents who were very proud of him.
"(Football) is like raindrops on a river. Pat was an individual, he exemplified the way we're supposed to live our lives and the way we're supposed to face our death."
- Times sports columnist Gary Shelton contributed to this report.
