April 23, 2004
Arizona State Athletic Director Gene Smith
"We have spent some time today to think about ways we could properly honor Pat Tillman and his contribution not only to Arizona State University, but to our community and our country. We have thought of a number of things that we will do in the future that we will not do today. One of the things we want to be very sensitive to is what the family is going through.
"We want to get to a point where we can be inclusive of their thoughts and what they feel would be appropriate as we move forward. We did make a decision that we would create a scholarship in Pat Tillman's name. We are working with the Arizona Cardinals and the W.P. Carey School of Business to create the scholarship. Tillman was a graduate of the school of business. He was a marketing major. The recipient of the scholarship will be a marketing student in the W.P. Carey School of Business. If it grows to be more than one scholarship then it will still be in the marketing department. We will work closely with the ASU Foundation.
"Secondly, we have made a decision that we will retire the number 42 at the end of the season. We are fortunate enough to have a young man named Connor Banks who is symbolic of what Pat Tillman stood for. We have decided that, along with Banks' concurrence, that he would wear number 42 throughout the season because he deserves to wear it because of who he is and to recognize Pat Tillman. At the conclusion of the season we will retire number 42. Those are the two things we have decided to do. We have been inundated with a number of ideas to recognize and pay tribute to someone of Pat Tillman's stature. We want to share with our Sun Devil fans, and anyone who wants to offer advice, that we believe that we need to take our time and involve the family in any other further decisions as we move forward. We hope that all other Sun Devil fans will be patient and help us to take the time and be respectful to [his wife] Marie, [his brother] Kevin, who is still in action, and to Tillman's parents and what they're going through. Hopefully these two announcements today will perpetuate everything Tillman was about. We know the recipients of the awards and Banks will certainly do that."
On how difficult it was to come up with an appropriate way to honor Pat
"The most difficult thing for us was that we felt that we needed to do something and one of our coaches, John Spini, said that we really need to take our time and put it in perspective. We needed to react to the questions we're getting from you, the press, and from our constituency and the hundreds of emails. The most difficult thing was to try and strike a balance by being sensitive to what the family is going through. The list of ideas that we have is unbelievable and a lot of them are very good, but knowing Pat, what we know and listening to those who knew him well, we have to walk a fine line and say, 'These things are appropriate, they're traditional.' Retiring the jersey and the creation of a scholarship fund, but other things might bring more attention to this than Pat would want and what his family would want."
On having contacted the Tillman Family
"We decided to wait a little while because we know that they are being inundated. In the next day, we will talk to them about (the scholarship) and some other things as well. I believe Mark Brand and his staff may have talked to the family today though."
Associate Athletic Director Mark Brand:
"We have actually spoken to the family today. Doug Tammaro, our associate sports information director, did talk to the family briefly, but not specifically about these things, but more to express the sympathies of the university for their loss.
"With the retirement of the jersey, Pat's name will be placed on the side of the press box and that will take place on the last game of the season, versus Washington State on November 13."
On the how the reaction has been more of a celebration of life than sadness
Gene Smith: "Mark Brand was one of the first people that I talked to this morning and Mark knew him well. Mark's been struggling all day to do his job and he is going through the process of understanding that we need to get to the point where we're celebrating everything that he was about. We've kind of taken that philosophy at least in our immediate family and tried to do that same thing. It goes back to what Connor said earlier, this is a time where we need to try and put Pat on a pedestal.
"I actually feel, as a professional, somewhat negligent that while he was alive that we weren't able to put him on a pedestal that would allow us and all of our student-athletes, like Connor, to really see what life should be like, in my view. Now, I think we will do that and we just decided that we'll talk about the good things. That's what Pat was all about and we need to get to the point where we celebrate him and hopefully the media and everyone else will do the same thing and talk about the greatness that he inspired in all of us. That's how we got to where we were, it wasn't so much a strategy but how we ended up there."
On how Pat puts an identifiable face on the men and women who are overseas fighting?
"I hadn't thought about that, but it's a very good perspective to take when you start thinking about him and his life. 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). I think a lot of people do not have a relative or a personal friend overseas fighting and I can't tell you how many emails our department has received of people here who were very close to him. There were a lot of tears.
"We had a meeting this morning of everyone in our department because some of us are new and did not know Pat. There are other people here, like Mike McBride and Mark Zimmer, who actually sat down and gave us some personal stories about him. He was unique in his life and how he lived. The best way for me to describe it is, how many people in this world and in our society, who put so much value on materialistic things, would walk away from those things in order to do what we really want to do in life? He did that. He wanted to be with his brother and wanted to fight for his country. He walked away from millions and millions of dollars in order to do that. It took strength of character to do that and I just don't know many people in this room who could do that. Hopefully, it will put a connection for a lot of people in this country to someone who was over there defending us."
ASU Student-Athlete Connor Banks
"It's a great honor to be able to wear number 42 for the last time. I feel so much pride for what he has done for the community and this nation. For him to give up his football career and go overseas to fight for his country and fight for what he feels is right is a great thing for the nation. I'd like to send my prayers to his family."
On the sacrifice Pat made by enlisting in the armed forces
"From the stories I've heard about him, it wasn't necessarily a shock. His motivation was to serve the country and to fight alongside his brother and do what his brother was already doing."
On the mood of the players and how they are handling the tragedy
"We found out early this morning during weights about what actually happened. Our first reaction was shock. . Everybody knew of him and how he was as a player and a person. To hear that kind of news, it just shocks you and hits home because he was a part of the Sun Devil family. For something like that to happen to this family, it's just shocking and hard to take at the first moments that you hear it."
On growing up in Bay area, where Tillman was from and how he came to be wearing #42
"Part of the reason that I did wear the number was because of Pat Tillman. I followed his career, being from the Bay Area, and saw how great of a player he was, so he was a part of the reason why I chose it. Having the number retired is a great honor, for me, to be able to wear the number for the last time because it doesn't happen very often in these circumstances.
"It gives me a lot of pride to be able to wear the number that a great person like him wore. It's going to motivate me even more to play to the best of my abilities, knowing that he will be watching, that he'll be there for every down this year.
"When I was a true freshman and I came in under Coach Snyder's staff, Coach [Phil] Snow, who knew Pat really well--he was his defensive coordinator then--would tell us about different players that he had coached with and he always had stories about Pat Tillman and what kind of a guy he was and the character that he had. That was probably the reason that I chose to wear the number 42. He was a special person and, I've watched the tapes of the Rose Bowl and things like that, the way he played the game, he played with so much passion and just flew around the field. When you look at him, you say, 'That's a football player. That's what I want to be.' When you are a football player, you want to be someone like that."
On what this says to student-athletes who have aspirations about reaching the NFL
"I think it says that being materialistic isn't the most important thing. It puts everything in perspective for us and shows what is important to people. If that's what is important to you, to be able to go do what you want to do, to be able to do that is a great statement that he made. I think that it just shows that sports aren't everything, they're not the most important thing to every body. You need to do what's right for you and what's right for your family. "
On how this changes his perspective on life
"It puts everything in perspective. My goal is to be the best person that I can be, and Pat Tillman was that. He was the best that he could be, and to try and live up to that example is what I'm striving for.
"It makes me want to push even harder than what I was doing. I just have more ambition to try and fulfill everything that I want to in my life. Maybe I was more happy-go-lucky yesterday, but now I just want to achieve as much as I can with the news that I received this morning."
On why he chose ASU
"The tradition of ASU. We've been known for putting great teams on the field and being able to come here was just a tremendous honor. I wasn't a very highly recruited player and being able to come to a school like this was a great achievement for me."