Hat tip Drudge. A former NFL player who joined the Marines was motivated by college roommate Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Jeremy Staat is shipping out to Iraq Tuesday night. Staat, a former defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams who had been playing Arena Football, was one of 300 Marines in the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment being deployed from Kaneohe Bay. The unit is expected to be in Iraq for seven months.
"The way I look at it, we're spreading freedom, and you have to support the troops and you have to support the war," Staat, 29, told KITV in Honolulu on Tuesday as he prepared to leave from Hawaii. "You can't just tell some Marine who just lost his buddy that we supported you but not the war, because in that case you're basically saying that Marine, his buddy, just died for nothing. We're one team."
A very intelligent man. And he said all that on television, in front of God and everybody. Fox and AP both picked up the story.
Staat said he felt compelled to join the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but Tillman, his roommate at Arizona State, advised him to stay with professional football until he qualified for retirement benefits. Tillman gave up a $1.2 million NFL contract to join the Army Rangers.
"I felt there is more to life than just a game," Staat said, adding that Tillman's death helped motivate him to enlist. To do so, the 6-foot-5 Staat dropped from 310 to 260 pounds. He said three months of boot camp training gave him a deeper appreciation for team camaraderie. He graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot in March 2006.
Congratulations, Marine, and thank you!