Pat Tillman: Petition Asks NFL To Retire Former Cardinals' Number

PHOENIX, AZ — It's been more than 17 years since former ASU and Arizona Cardinals player Pat Tillman was killed in combat in Afghanistan.

Tillman, who was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year on the Sun Devils' 1997 Rose Bowl team, quit the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army after the 9/11 attacks, joining the service in 2002 alongside his brother, Kevin.

Tillman served two tours of duty, one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan, where he was killed on April 22, 2004, in an ambush.

Now, a Change.org petition that's been signed by close to 10,000 people hopes to have the National Football League retire the late safety's number 40 league-wide.

Tillman's number 40 has already been retired by the Cardinals, while ASU retired the number he wore during his time in Tempe, 42, in addition to naming the tunnel that ASU players enter the field through at Sun Devil Stadium, "the Pat Tillman Memorial Tunnel."

The petition, which was started by Sean Wilson, aims to have the league commemorate Tillman, who was a star safety for the Arizona Cardinals between 1998-2001.

"It is my hope that for the rest of time, anytime an unknown person enters an NFL stadium, they will see TILLMAN 40 hanging from the rafters and his story will have to be told and his name will continue to be spoken,” Wilson wrote in his petition.

Wilson said his goal in having the league retire Tillman's number is to honor a man that made a sacrifice to the nation at large.

"It is my goal to have the NFL retire Pat Tillman’s jersey No. 40 league wide in honor of the 20th anniversary of 09-11-2001 and Pat Tillman’s ultimate sacrifice he made as a result of this day," Wilson said. "They say, 'a man is not dead while his name is still spoken.'

"It is my hope that for the rest of time, anytime an unknown person enters an NFL stadium, they will see TILLMAN 40 hanging from the rafters and his story will have to be told and his name will continue to be spoken."