Group dedicates N.Y. Marathon run to Tillman

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Nov 3, 2007 | by Shelly Meron

Years after growing up with Pat Tillman in San Jose, Albany resident Todd Dando still remembers his friend sticking up for those who needed help and always trying to do the right thing.

"He was always the bigger guy, so if anyone was getting picked on in school, he'd stand up for them," Dando recalls now. "He always stood up for what he believed in."

Tillman shocked many when he gave up a pro football career to enlist with his brother, Kevin, in the U.S. Army in 2002. The following year, he was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.

"It was very devastating," Dando said of Tillman's death. "What hit me immediately was how much he gave up, and what an inspiration it was for someone who had so much to give it up."

Now, Dando and 24 others who were close to Tillman are trying to honor his memory. They have been raising money for the Pat Tillman Foundation, which was started following his death, and will run Sunday in the New York City Marathon as Team Tillman.

"Pat would be happy to have people out there getting some exercise and having a good time," said Dando, who ran in the San Diego Marathon in 2002.

Dando, who's lived in Albany since 2004, attended kindergarten through eighth grade with Tillman, while Dando's wife, Erin, was best friends with Tillman's widow, Marie, in high school. Tillman was a star athlete who eventually was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and garnered headlines when he left football to join the elite Army Rangers.

But to those who knew him as a young boy, he was still the same guy, even after becoming famous.

"It's funny for those of us who knew him, watching when he was in the NFL and when he enlisted," Dando, 32, recalls. "To us, he was just Pat."

Dando remembers being surprised when he heard that Tillman had walked away from his lucrative NFL career to join the military. Now, looking back, it seems just like something Tillman would do.

"Pat never cared about money or fame," Dando said. "He didn't care what anyone else thought. He was going to do what he thought was right."

He said he hopes the marathon run will draw attention to the foundation's work -- teaching kids leadership skills -- and to another side of Tillman.

"He wasn't your typical football player," Dando said. "When you meet people who were close to him, it's not about what an all-star he was or his football career. It's what a spiritual leader he was, and what a good guy he was.

"If we can spread that message so people can see the full image of him, that would be great."

The group set a goal of raising $5,000 for the Pat Tillman Foundation per runner. As of Friday, Dando was up to $3,105.

Dando's wife, Erin, said events like this are a great way to honor their friend.

"It's a way to make sure the great person Pat was is remembered," she said. "We continue to be inspired by him."

For more information on the Pat Tillman Foundation and Team Tillman's participation in the New York City Marathon, visit http:// www.pattillmanfoundation.org.