NFL PING
FReepmail scott says to be added to, or to be taken off the NFL Ping list...
This is a fairly high volume ping list
Posted on 03/10/2006 2:53:24 PM PST by Kaslin
A former college teammate of Pat Tillman – the NFL player who left football to join the Army and was killed in Afghanistan – has followed in his footsteps and joined the Marines.
Jeremy Staat, who also played professional football, left the game at age 29 to endure the rigors of boot camp and life in the military.
Staat was an offensive lineman at Arizona State University while Tillman played there, and the two were roommates.
After college, Staat moved on to the National Football League, playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams, plus one year of arena football with the Los Angeles Avengers.
He had early thoughts of leaving football for military service, but Tillman urged Staat to stay in the league until he could get a retirement plan, the Marine Corps News reports.
Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Tillman decided to leave the NFL to serve in the U.S. Army. He was killed in action in 2004, a reported "friendly fire" death that is now being probed by the Pentagon.
"That was the turning point for Jeremy,” said Janet Goodheart, Staat’s mother. "After Pat was killed, he began to dwell on things. He visited me at home and we had a real serious talk. He told me he was through with football.”
Staat had reasons for joining that went beyond Tillman’s death, he said.
"The big reason was because I was really disgusted with the amount of money entertainers get and what they pay troops overseas,” he told the News.
"It didn’t seem right that we pay all those entertainers millions to catch a football and we pay our Marines pennies to a dollar to catch a bullet.
"I wanted to be a part of something that is going to live forever instead of getting trophies. What are trophies good for – collecting dust?”
But the combat utility uniforms took some getting used to, according Staat.
"I looked at them as a new uniform. Instead of having a football helmet, I had a Kevlar. Instead of wearing shoulder pads, I wore a flak jacket.”
Tillman’s old buddy said he plans on leaving a lasting impression in the Marine Corps – and maybe watching a few football games on his days off.
lol!!
Does he look like those folks in the second picture from the bottom of post #69?
How did you get a nuke for a son?
I just got a Marine.
; )
Is inadaquat a fruit of the kumquat family?
CRANK IT UP.
http://www.marinesforever.com/Marine-Cadence.htm
http://www.pro-american.com/Free_Music/free_music.html#Cadences
ha Ha MA
apparently so!
I had to keep my mispellings, just to remember how not to do it!
: )
Wanna hear a funny one, Race? 'Course you do!!
And so does he-who-does-karaoke in Japanese!
(Note: I'm a damn Yank, raising kids in the South.)
Early one morning, alone at the desk with my back to the kitchen, reviewing a recipe for an oriental dish, I muttered aloud to myself, "I wonder what 'tamari' (as sesame oil) is?" My (current) Marine had come into the kitchen, heard me, and responded, "Tuesday."
Thanks for the ping! GREAT story... stirs the heart and soul. :)
Actually he inherited great looks from his beautiful mom.
How he got to be a nuke is an example of divine intervention apparently we were not even sure he would graduate from high school. Very smart would not do a lick of work. Get an A in physics one semester and F the next.
Interestingly enough entering and winning a Shakespearean competition without having ever set foot on a stage turned his life around.
"...ever...." should be ...never setting foot on....
I just love boys, never a dull moment!
As eldest of seven I was very used to their shennanigans but my dear wife youngest of four girls was not. As a consequence they drove her crazy since she expected them to be more responsible etc.
She would have been so proud of how her sons turned out. My younger boy is a senior computer science major and a fine young man as well.
She's gone?
She passed at the age of 43 eight years ago.
I'm just a tiny bit younger than that now.
You've done a tremendous! job, then.
I have some kids that I 'surrogate' who lost their mom at a very young age. I've always just been mortified to contemplate how Hubby would ever manage to finish the job alone ; ) or better stated, how the kids would manage to survive with him, without me ; ) Hubby suffered the loss himself, similar to your kids. It was very tough. Dads just sometimes don't realize how very, very important they really are. FIL is terminal presently, and the range of emotion is off the charts underneath, and very quiet on the surface.
Keep on truckin', you must be doing something right!
And, if you get a chance, give the other one a giant bear hug from me, my best wishes for a successful tour, and all the blessings I can muster (considerable!).
If it was just myself who knows what would have happened since I loved my wife to distraction. But her family was simply superb and I am still close to them all today. Her mom lived with us the last six months and sometime after her death. Wonderful woman.
I will give some advice though for you. Get life insurance on yourself.
Thanks millions.
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