Fact vs. fiction
It's almost a tad creepy that the same week B.D. from Doonesbury loses a leg in Iraq that we get the real story of Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan, nearly two years after left the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers.

In a strange way, through his service and his death, Tillman is finally getting the respect and the accolades he so deserved during his brief life. In the cruel world of the NFL, Tillman appeared to a "but" player. He was a vastly underrated DB in the NFL, piling up lots of tackles ... but, he played for the Cardinals and only really close followers noticed him until he left to join the Army Rangers. He was a standout linebacker in college ... but since the NFL often slaps star college players with the amusement park "you must be this tall/big" signs, he slipped to the Cardinals in the draft. There were no "buts" now. He left the NFL to join the Army and was killed in the line of duty. He can't be underrated anymore. In fact, he'll probably fall into a similar category as Nile Kinnick -- a sports star who really was an "American hero" (no matter how you feel about the war).