Ex-NFL star Pat Tillman died in the war in Afghanistan exactly 20 years ago, on April 22, 2004. His mother continues to make serious accusations against the US military.

The story of Pat Tillman moved the world. The former safety was playing for the Arizona Cardinals when he decided to leave the NFL and join the military after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – for an annual salary of just 18,000 US dollars. He would have earned millions in the NFL.

Exactly 20 years ago, on April 22, 2004, the then 27-year-old was killed in the war in Afghanistan. An investigation by the US Army later revealed that Tillman’s death was the result of inexplicable command decisions.

The commanders ordered half of Tillman’s troop to drive through a ravine that was very susceptible to ambushes. There, the ex-athlete died from three shots to the head. It later became clear that he was not killed by enemy fire, but by shots fired by US soldiers. It was a tragic misunderstanding that was initially covered up.

In an “ESPN” interview, his mother Mary Tillman spoke out and renewed her accusations against the military. When asked why the US military kept her in the dark about the circumstances of the death for so long, she replied: “I think it’s because they screwed up. And they know they screwed up. “

The mother also criticized the public handling of her son’s death: “I think they did it too because it was an opportunity to use Pat. He wouldn’t have let them use him while he was alive. But when he died, they thought it was an opportunity to glorify what happened to him and therefore use him as a recruiting tool.”

Contrary to the family’s wishes, the US military and NFL continue to use Tillman as a promotional figure, most recently at the 2023 Super Bowl.

No blame on the soldiers: “It was an accident “

Mary Tillman does not blame the soldiers who accidentally shot her son: “I think it was an accident. I think the guys in the first vehicle of the second convoy who shot were overzealous and scared. They were young guys. They were in a firefight.”

The commanders were responsible for the accident when they allowed two different convoys to meet without informing each other. This led to the tragic mix-up.

It still makes her angry that the commanders did not take responsibility. “It just disgusts me that these people who made these horrible decisions couldn’t at least go back to their men and say: We really screwed this up. We caused this because of our bad orders. “

Commanders faced no consequences

The opposite was the case: “They blamed these boys, these children. They were practically still children. It’s just terrible what they did to them.” The mother herself was never contacted by the responsible commanders: “I never heard anything from them. They never got in touch with me,” she laments. “Unfortunately, many of them will probably retire soon, so they will probably never feel any consequences.”

She wishes her son’s former comrades only the best: “I just hope that they can try to let go of the memories they have of what happened. Because they have a life to live. And Pat would want them to live that life. He would have been very forgiving if he had known the circumstances.”

Even today, many people wonder why Tillman left the NFL to go to war in the first place. “He always wanted to try to do the right thing,” his mother explains. “I think the 9/11 attacks trivialized football for him. He felt like he needed to do more. “