If former ASU graduate assistant Vince D'Aliesio had $1 for every story he has told about Pat Tillman, he could afford to retire from the insurance industry.
D'Aliesio, 33, worked with former ASU offensive coordinator Dan Cozzetto and coached the defensive scout team during the 1995 and '96 seasons, when Tillman started gaining recognition more for his thundering hits than for his shoulder-length hair.
He remembers when Tillman was asked to meet a recruit and some coaches for dinner. D'Aliesio figured he would drop by the restaurant ahead of time to make sure everything was in order. He found Tillman drinking beers with former Sun Devil B.J. Alford.
"He said, 'You wanted me to host a recruit, this is what you're getting,' " D'Aliesio said. "We had to clean that up before the recruit got there. We never asked him to host recruits after that."
On the field, Tillman took pride in protecting his teammates. Before games, he tried to loosen them up.
A couple hours before the 1996 regular-season finale against UA, Tillman was humming a familiar tune as players prepared to board the team bus.
"What's he whistling?" D'Aliesio asked one of ASU's coaches.
"It's the Michigan fight song," the coach responded.
The morning of the ASU-UA game, Michigan upset Ohio State, spoiling the Buckeyes' perfect season. Tillman wanted to make sure ASU, which entered the game unbeaten, didn't take UA lightly.
"He was just kind of sending a message," said D'Aliesio, noting that ASU made a "statement" in a 56-14 trouncing of UA that set the table for the Rose Bowl.
D'Aliesio insists that Tillman, who shied away from publicity during his two-year stint in the Army, wouldn't have objected to Pat's Run, scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday.
"If it's bringing everybody together for a just cause, I think he gladly would have lent his name to it," D'Aliesio said.
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.