When the Arizona Cardinals take the field in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII, in their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, there will be an extra player on the field. You won't see him, but he'll be there nevertheless. And he'll play the entire game with his Cardinals.
His presence was felt as the Cardinals posted a surprising win in their playoff game against the Carolina Panthers, a game in which everything seemed to be in the Cardinals' favor. And his presence will no doubt be felt in Tampa, as the Cardinals, playing in the Super Bowl for the first time in team history, square off against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team making its seventh Super Bowl start and hoping for its sixth Super Bowl win.
The extra Cardinals player on the field, of course, will be superstar and hero Pat Tillman, the patriot who suspended his NFL career and shocked fans when he walked away from a $3.6 million contract offer from the Cardinals to become an Army Ranger. He enlisted in the Army along with his younger brother, Kevin, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Tillman is likely the most famous Cardinals player in the history of the team.
There will also be a very special audience for this game. Super Bowl XLIII will be broadcast to more than 230 countries, to a potential worldwide audience of more than 1 billion viewers, including military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The special video linkup will allow soldiers in Afghanistan to watch the game from the Pat Tillman USO Center that was built in his honor at Bagram Air Base with funds donated by the NFL. Another group of soldiers will watch the game from FOB (Forward Operating Base) Tillman, in the mountains of Afghanistan near the Pakistani border, close to the place where Pat Tillman gave his life in defense of freedom.
So as the pre-game festivities of Super Bowl XLIII come to an end, after the national anthem and the fly-over by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and just before General David Petraeus makes the ceremonial coin toss, say a prayer of thanks for the life and service of Pat Tillman, and for all those men and women defending our freedom and our American way of life around the globe, and for their families. And don't forget to also say a prayer for the safety of the players in the game.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, "[The NFL] feels that the 70,000 fans attending the Super Bowl this year should be cheering louder for the military than the two teams playing," he said. "It is, indeed, very important for the NFL to look for every opportunity to support the troops." 
|
