This is all strictly conjecture from second-hand sources because Tillman vanished almost immediately. There was no grandiose press conference, not even a statement to the media. One day he was playing for the Cardinals, the next he was gone for military training. Without a trace, just the way he wanted it.

It certainly makes you wonder what motivates a person. So much has been made of the fact that Tillman gave up all that money to put his life on the line for a mere US$18,000 per year as a ranger because he believed it was the right thing to do. I think Tillman, without a doubt, made some great sacrifices.

If being heroic means you have a unique perspective on some of the more absurd aspects of life and choose not to indulge in them, then I guess he was heroic. But this is not exactly heavyweight champion of the world Muhammad Ali forsaking everything and become a lightning rod for hate and racism because he chose to be a 'conscientious objector' and refused to fight in the Vietnam War.

This was a young man who felt incomplete, who felt a personal sense of duty to defend what he believed in and decided to do something about it.

There are millions of men and woman in this world who made the same decision as Pat Tillman did. There are just not millions and millions of them who sacrificed the material riches he did.

Close to 1,000 American military personnel have died in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past few years. None of them was a former NFL player but the pain and loss of their loved ones was no less than that of the Tillman family. It's important to remember this because Tillman's death has sparked another round of patriotic chest thumping not only in the power corridors of Washington but also in the enormously deluded world of sports.

But all those military metaphors that football spews out seem downright childish in the wake of Tillman's death. War on the gridiron, generals leading their troops into battle, the blitz and the long bomb.

Two days after Tillman died, the NFL held its draft of new players. ESPN showed 15 hours of TV coverage and every player selected was profiled like a yearling at a thoroughbred auction, which I guess they are. Yet despite the hype and despite the endless array of experts and studio analysis, the plethora of trades and backroom deals, the shots of NFL team executives huddled in the 'war room', it just seemed so damn insignificant.

This, more than anything, may have been Pat Tillman's greatest achievement. He has given perspective to an arena that is so desperate for it. Tillman, at least on the surface, hardly seemed to fit the profile of a military hero. He was a long-haired loner who marched to the beat of his own drummer. Different, but not peculiar.

He graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State in 3 years with a 3.84 grade-point average. A few years ago there was a memorable shot of him sitting high above the Cardinals stadium in a light tower. According to Tillman, he liked to come up there to clear his mind and think. To not only be away from the world for a while but to gaze out on it.

He would do things like triathlons. 'I feel like a bum not doing anything in the off-season,' he told an interviewer. 'Doing a triathlon forces you to stay on a schedule, keeps you from going out and drinking each night, doing something stupid.'

Yet despite his unique nature, Tillman had no trouble conforming to the larger picture and by all accounts was an ideal teammate who never questioned his coaches. One would have to assume he was the same in his military duties.

Perhaps the most refreshing element of Tillman was that he abhorred the hype and steadfastly refused to discuss his military service with anyone outside of family and close friends. It was his private and personal choice. He was a principled non-conformist and for that he has my total respect.

But was Pat Tillman a hero? Frankly, it's not for me or the world of sports and politics to say. Because the truth is, it takes a hero to know a hero.