Sports as Propaganda: The Death of Pat Tillman [View All]

[Sequoia]

As much as we like to think of big-time sports as an escape from the "real" world, there are times when its politically conservative messages must not be ignored. That's why even non-sports fans should be troubled by the militaristic jingoism that accompanied media coverage of former NFL star Pat Tillman's death Thursday night while serving as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan.
Pat Tillman left the Arizona Cardinals football team in May 2002 to join the military as an Army Ranger. It was certainly newsworthy that someone earning big money as a pro athlete would give it up to join the military. But left unspoken in the sports media's ample coverage of Tillman is the recognition that most Americans dying overseas joined the military for economic reasons. Even the media that supported the war as a fight for freedom find it amazing that anyone would actually sacrifice money to join the warfare.

In the sports world, there was not a hint of ambiguity as to the merits of the cause in which Tillman lost his life. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue stated that "like others protecting our freedom around the world, Pat made the ultimate sacrifice." After Tagliabue made his statement at the start of Saturday's NFL draft, the crowd repeatedly chanted "USA, USA." ESPN's NFL Analyst Mark Schlereth stated that "Tillman made the ultimate sacrifice so that the people of the country could be protected."

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