Former NFL Player Jeremy Staat Follows in Pat Tillman's Footsteps

Former ASU lineman and NFL player Jeremy Staat is set to join a new team - the US Marines.  The former pro football player was once ASU player and Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman's roommate and is following in his footsteps into the US Military.

Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in April 2004

Staat graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Friday and said Tillman's death gave him "more motivation" to enlist.   "I should have been there for him," Staat said.

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Enlisting "is probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life," Staat, 29, told The Associated Press after the ceremony.

More from the Associated Press:

Staat said he was felt compelled to join the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but Tillman, who was his roommate at Arizona State, advised him to stay with professional football until he qualified for retirement benefits.

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"He told me, 'You're a good player, you need to get good play.' Then four months later, at his wedding, I learn he's going to the Army," Staat said. "I joked to him, 'You stole my idea,' and he said it had been in the process for a while."

--Jim Roberts with wire reports