Margo Darragh and Zack Walz revel in being part of the Pat Tillman pick

Walz said, “I know all you fine people in the ‘Burgh work hard and love this country. I’ll tell you, there was one other person who loved this country as much as anyone else. My good friend, my Cardinals teammate, Pat Tillman. Pick 226; this is for you, Pat.”

At that point, Darragh, who attended the Naval Academy, said, “Wow. It’s such an honor to be here representing the Pat Tillman Foundation, my fellow Tillman Scholars and the military community more broadly especially my hometown. It’s awesome to be here. And so with that we have a particularly special pick and you’ll see here in a second why.

“With the 226th pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select Landon Robinson, DT, NAVY! Go Navy, beat Army!”

That resulted in a another “wow” from NFL Network host Rich Eisen, who said, “A Navy man with the Pat Tillman pick.”

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Robinson later told the Cincinnati media after being selected that it was “such a blessing” to be the Tillman pick. “I was waiting here with all my family and friends for the pick to go through, so we were kind of waiting for a long time. But it couldn't be a cooler award, and I think that just truly represents the military and the service. To be able to have that pick tied to me just means a lot"

Two days later, Darragh was still on Cloud 9.

“I've been reflecting on it,” she told CardsWire. “It's hard to put into words. So special. I just moved back to Pittsburgh after not really living at home since I left for the Naval Academy in 2012. I just moved back to the city last month to start my legal career and then for Pittsburgh to be hosting the draft right when I moved back to the city and then to be fortunate enough to be a Tillman Scholar and to have the Foundation ask me to be the one to announce the draft pick. I just can't believe it all came together the way it did.

“And it's always such an honor to be even affiliated in some way with the Foundation and Pat Tillman's legacy, but in particular to get to announce the pick and then also have it go to a Naval Academy football player was all just so crazy to be honest and a really special experience.”

Walz told CardsWire, also two days later, that he could sense the change in the crowd when they realized what was happening after the P.A. announcement introducing them.

“We sat there for hours and listened to all these people go up and make picks and there really wasn’t a ton of loud applause unless it was like a Steelers draft pick,” he said. “And then for us to go up there and talk about Pat, it's like everybody got re-engaged and you can just feel it. There's energy there. It wasn’t like explosive energy; it wasn't a first-round (pick).

“But we got up there and the love that the fans showed us and the people around the event. I mean I felt like I was a celebrity because everybody wanted to hear and know stories about Pat and that's the kind of stuff that I live to tell.”

Growing up a Steelers fan, Darragh said it was “funny that my family's been giving me a hard time because the draft pick was for the (division-rival) Bengals. We were making jokes before I went on stage about that.”

She added, “And obviously when I was at the Naval Academy, I was a big Navy football fan. Yeah, certainly a big football fan, big sports fan kind of generally. And so that just made this experience of being at the draft and getting to kind of think and really sit in Pat Tillman's legacy was all very, very cool.”

Asked about the “Go Navy, beat Army” line, considering that Tillman was in the Army, Darragh said, “I was joking before Zack and I went on stage, it was like, ‘Pat would just want us to have fun with this’ and soak in every moment. I didn't know that it was going to be a Navy football pick until they gave me the card back stage, a minute before I walked on stage. Then, we kind of rolled with it. And obviously I don't know Pat, and I'm not going to presume how he would feel about anything, but I think we kind of had fun with it in that way.”

Aside from the thrill of announcing the pick, Darragh also reflected on some special moments earlier in the day when she was in Acrisure Stadium while Sabol was painting.

She said, “People were walking by and taking photos with Pat, and there was this man who literally was moved to tears watching Cody paint this portrait of Pat Tillman, and he came up to me and then Brandon Underwood, the chief of staff for the foundation who was there, and he was in tears and he was like, ‘I've followed Pat Tillman's legacy. I have some memorabilia of his basically at my home, and it's so special to see his legacy continuing to this day and being represented at the draft.’

“I just thought that was so neat, and it was really special to talk to someone who was so moved by Pat Tillman’s story and the sacrifice that he made. And there were other people walking by too, who immediately were like, ‘Oh my God, that's Pat Tillman.’ And so I think that's really special that over two decades after his death, he's still recognizable and people are still so moved and inspired by him. That was really, for me, a pretty moving part of the day.”

Tillman painting

(The portrait will be auctioned off later this year to support the Pat Tillman Foundation at: https://pattillmanfoundation.org)

She was also grateful Walz was there to share the moment and being “with someone who not only was a friend, but that actually played with him. And Zack is such a kind and incredible person. I was a little nervous to go on stage. So knowing I was going up there with Zack and that he was going to kick things off and say a few words about the city of Pittsburgh and then a few words about Pat.

“That was so great. And it was just really special to get to ask Zack some questions about Pat and hear him share a few stories about Pat that I hadn't heard before. He was confirming things that I had heard and even adding to them.”

Walz was asked to be in Pittsburgh about a week before the draft, but didn’t hesitate to drop everything and be a part of it.

“Obviously I’d do anything to help spread the word; spreading the mission of the Tillman Foundation is something I will never say no to,” he said. “So, yeah, I was freaking so honored to be asked to be a part of it. It's a pretty high emotional day. The anniversary of his death was on Wednesday (April 22). It's obviously really sad. It's a sad week, but then the outpouring of support and people that messaged me leading up to it, people I've never met before thanking me and sending me pictures of their children at the Tillman run, their homes decorated in Pat Tillman jerseys, their pets named Tillman, their kids named Tillman. I mean, all of that makes the day and the week a lot better.

“The people who have reached out to me on LinkedIn, they're just sending me all this stuff. It just brings tears to my eyes. Like how powerful this has been and testimony to the person Pat was, and I just love that stuff.”

Darragh made sure to say how life-changing it has been to be a Tillman Scholar since 2012.

“There are so many layers to why the Tillman Foundation is great,” she said. “Obviously, first things first, it's a scholarship, so leaving the Marines and taking the leap into law school to have a little bit of extra financial stability in law school meant that I could pursue public interest opportunities that didn't pay. I could go work for the government over the summer or I could do civil rights work or work with veterans. That typically is an unpaid internship for a law student, but I was able to do it because of the support from the foundation. So there was a very practical aspect to it. But then the actual community as well, just such a great group of people who were all working on such different but incredibly important issues and impact areas. And so I don't really have a network that's so diverse.

“Now I'm connected to a group of people who, some are school teachers, some are child psychologists, some are doctors, some are lawyers, but obviously I'm surrounded by lawyers all the time. So it's really nice to have a different community of people to go to who are so supportive of one another, who are bouncing ideas off of one another, who are building things together. And so it's really like the most supportive and collaborative group of people I've ever been around. And it's made leaving the Marines and going out into the world that much better and more exciting. I continue to be inspired by them, and I feel like they're rooting for me, and I'm always rooting for them. So it's been great to be tied in with the foundation. I know there are great stories with so many that have been helped by it.”

Finally, Walz couldn’t help but reflect on the day he was one of the people who spoke at Tillman’s memorial in California and now experienced an aspect of the Circle of Life.

He said, “I got on a stage, a little stage in the Rose Garden in San Jose and had to give his eulogy. Now, here I am 22 years later, on a stage again honoring him and looking at the impact that he's had across this country, dare I say the world, because there are so many people that come from other countries to participate in the Tillman run.

“And I just know; he lived for a greater purpose and boy if he was alive, he'd be proud of what these people have accomplished and who they are.”

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Margo Darragh, Zack Walz revel in being part of the Pat Tillman pick