Journalism Showcase: Outside the Lines Recognizes 20-Year Anniversary Of Pat Tillman’s Death With New Reporting, Interviews

"His memory is so frequently invoked but so few people remember the actual circumstances in which he died.” – Jeremy Schaap

Jeremy Schaap interviews Pat Tillman’s mother Mary “Dannie” Tillman i for "Outside the Lines"(William Weinbaum/ESPN)

Pat Tillman’s mother Mary “Dannie” Tillman (R) talks with Lieutenant Colonel Pete Blaber (US Army, retired), author of a recent book on Pat Tillman. (William Weinbaum/ESPN)

Gretchen Evans speaks during the 2022 ESPYS presentation of the at Tillman Service Award, (Kelly Backus/ESPN Images)

A statue of Pat Tillman stands at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)

Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Pat Tillman, a story that transcended the world of sports and moved to the front pages of news outlets around the country.

Tillman died on April 22, 2004, at the age of 27 while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, two years after he had given up his career in the NFL to join the armed services.

Tillman’s death was initially misrepresented, the Army stating the enemy killed him. It was later revealed that he died from friendly fire.

Outside the Lines is recognizing the anniversary with new reporting and interviews. A seven-minute feature will debut in the 10 a.m. ET hour of SportsCenter on Saturday, with a second piece to air in Monday’s editions (the day of the anniversary). In addition, the content includes a written piece that published today on ESPN.com.

“On the 20th anniversary of his death, it was important to us to revisit the story of Pat Tillman,” said Jeremy Schaap, reporter on the OTL content, along with producers William Weinbaum and Frank Saraceno. “His memory is so frequently invoked, but so few people remember the actual circumstances in which he died.”

Tillman died on April 22, 2004, at the age of 27 while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, two years after he retired from the NFL. (Courtesy of the US Army)

In a new interview with Schaap, Pat’s mother, Mary “Dannie” Tillman, describes how she came to believe that Pat had been murdered by the Army high command.

“Now there is a new investigation, conducted by Pete Blaber, a retired special forces colonel, which has been especially meaningful for Dannie and for some of Pat’s platoonmates,” said Schaap. “There has been so much pain and trauma for them for so long, stemming from Tillman’s death by friendly fire, but also exacerbated by the lies that were told initially about how he died, and lack of accountability of commanders for their decisions that had grave consequences.”

As OTL will show, Pat Tillman’s mother says she no longer believes that her son’s death was by design, and has found a measure of peace, and closure, thanks largely to the work of Blaber. Schaap also interviews Blaber and two platoonmates in the OTL content.

A veteran himself of the 75th Ranger Regiment, Blaber recently published a book on Tillman’s death and its aftermath.

“Speaking with Dannie, with Pete Blaber, with Tillman’s platoonmates Eric Godec and Don Lee, was a powerful experience—and I think it’s important for their voices to be heard,” said Schaap.

“Willie and Frank have been reporting on Tillman nearly from the time he died and they brought tremendous sensitivity and an abundance of knowledge to this project.”