Tom Yum

Ex-NFL player graduates from Marines boot camp in San Diego
By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer
Published 12:05 am PST Saturday, March 11, 2006

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A former college teammate of Pat Tillman is following his footsteps by leaving professional football to join the military.
Pfc. Jeremy Staat, a former NFL defensive lineman who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the St. Louis Rams, graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Friday.

Enlisting "is probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life," Staat, 29, told The Associated Press after his graduation ceremony.

Tillman, who played defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals, was killed by friendly fire near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in April 2004. The Defense Department is investigating allegations of a cover-up, including failure by the U.S. Army to tell Tillman's family for several weeks that he had been killed by gunfire from his fellow Army Rangers, not by enemy fire as they initially were told.

Staat, who also played for the Los Angeles Avengers Arena Football team in 2004, said he was compelled to join the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but Tillman advised him to stay with professional football until he qualified for retirement benefits.

"He told me, 'You're a good player, you need to get good play.' Then four months later, at his wedding, I learn he's going to the Army," Staat said. "I joked to him, 'You stole my idea,' and he said it had been in the process for a while."

Tillman's death gave him "more motivation" to enlist, said Staat, who was born in Bakersfield but resides in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"I should have been there for him," he said, adding he was disappointed that Tillman's enlistment drew wide attention because he gave up a $1.2 million NFL contract to join the Army Rangers.

"People missed the whole concept. It wasn't about the money," he said. "He was there to help liberate a country.

"I never felt right about making the money I was making," Staat continued. "We pay millions of dollars to professional athletes and entertainers, yet we pay military service people pennies to a dollar, and they're the ones risking their lives."

To enlist, the 6-foot-5 player said he dropped from 310 to 260 pounds. He said going through three months of rigorous, boot camp training gave him a deeper appreciation for team camaraderie.

"It's about looking out for your fellow soldier, and being ready to take a bullet for someone," he said.

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gregimotis

Another positive war story you won't hear on CNN. If we'd all stop watching the TV news, we might find out people are pretty decent after all.

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I am Tired. Tired. Tired.

GQchris

Props going out to that guy for going to USMC boot at 29....

Not everyone makes it, you guys remember Riddick Bowe, the big tough Boxer... apparently couldn't hack it...

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Tom Yum

Riddick bows out after 11 days of Marine boot camp

http://difrompi.freeservers.com/bowe.htm

Riddick Bowe has traded haymakers with some of the toughest men in the boxing ring. Anyone who can go toe to toe with current champ Evander Holyfield three times, and twice survive the brawling antics of Andrew Golota, can deal with anything.

Well, almost anything.

Apparently, the Marine Corps has a training program that can knock out even a former heavyweight champion of the world. On Feb. 21, Bowe said no mas after 11 days of boot camp at Parris Island, S.C.

It seems, according to a Washington Post article, that Bowe may have wanted out as early as day one of his odysessy into the Marine Corps Reserve. That same article also said Bowe had visited Parris Island before he decided to become a Leatherneck. So what happened?

You'd think Bowe wouldn't need a visit to a Marine Corps training base to figure that discipline and the Devil Dogs is like a Mike Tyson left hook and the resulting thud of his opponent hitting the canvas.

Well, what I know about Marine boot camp is restricted to what I've seen on TV with "Gomer Pyle" and movies like "Full Metal Jacket." For something closer to the truth, I went to the source, at least as close as I can find it on Fort Lee -- our local Marine Corps Detachment.

One of Fort Lee's Marines, who wanted to remain anonymous, thought Bowe's going to boot camp was nothing but hype from the start. "I thought, to me, it was a publicity stunt. I was told he was going in because his trainers couldn't get him in shape."

That's a thought. Bowe, looking toward a possible war with Evander or Mike, opted for the military's premier training camp. Thirteen weeks and about $15,000 of taxpayers' money later, he's a lean, mean, 29-year-old multimillionaire on an amphibious assault ship cruising the Mediterranean for six months.

Another Marine, Gunnery Sgt. Wiley Tiller, a food service instructor and former recruiter, said Bowe's trek through Parris Island was going to test his mental toughness more than his muscles.

"It would have been a big culture shock as soon as he got off the bus ... As an athlete, he was probably used to a coach yelling at him, but after a while you can kinda tell him to get off your back. He had it that way. But here (the Marines) you don't have it that way.

"He would've been totally stripped of anything he ever was and then he would have been brought back up," Tiller said. "That was probably messing with his manhood. I know he could've done the physical training -- everybody knows how tough training is for boxers -- but being told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, that's not easy for a 29-year-old to handle."

There would have been no entourages, no private showers or rooms, special food or any allowances because of the fact that he was Riddick Bowe, Tiller said. The Gunney said he respected Bowe as a boxer, but he wondered if he couldn't handle boot camp, maybe he lacks the mental toughness to resurrect his career.

My anonymous Marine said Bowe can't claim the title of being a Marine, not even for 11 days. "When you graduate, that's when you are a Marine. When you walk in, you are nothing."

After Bowe's two lackluster performances against Golota and his increasing problems at making weight, "The Few" may be his chances left at another heavyweight title; "The Proud," his refusal to quit the ring in the face of declining skills; and "The Marines," still a dream unfulfilled.

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Sounds like Bowe had difficulty loosing his power, fame, individuality and got treated like everyone else. I bet it was mentally tougher than anything he'd imagined!

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Dim Wit Moc

Most so called "heros" couldn't carry the jock strap of a true hero. Mr. Staat is now one of mine.

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Figure Eight

velcroninja

To The Halls Of Monta- F'n- Zumma!!!!!