Pat Tillman - Hall of Fame

I've gone on record before as not being the biggest fan of the concept of a Hall of Fame. Too often these halls merely reflect the biases and opinions of whoever is deciding who gets in. Madonna? Grand Master Flash? Miles Davis? Do any of these people deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? My point exactly, and as long as jackasses like Bill Conlin are allowed to decide who gets into Cooperstown, then the Baseball Hall of Fame can suck it as well.

Anyhow, the point of this post is that Pat Tillman is currently under consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame. As a Sun Devil, this is good news to me, but I would want to make sure that he is being considered for his this honor based on his performance on the field. Lost in all of the hyperbole surrounding his death was the fact that while he was a solid professional safety, he was a kick-ass college linebacker. He was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 and was one of the leaders of the 1996 Rose Bowl team that was seconds away from being national champions. He was fast, hit hard, and unafraid to speak his mind (as evidenced by his interview after the upset of #1 Nebraska in '96).

The tragic results of his Army service and his impact on the national scene are a small sidelight to why Tillman deserves to be in the Hall. He was that good. I just hope that some feeble-minded sportswriter doesn't get it in his head that Pat doesn't deserve this honor, that would be a shame.