Pat Tillman Arizona Cardinals jersey from Afghanistan returns home to Arizona

A Pat Tillman No. 40 Arizona Cardinals jersey hung inside the Pat Tillman USO Memorial center at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan from 2005-21.

On Sunday, it returned to Arizona.

Before kickoff between the Carolina Panthers and Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, the Pat Tillman Foundation was presented with the jersey, which was saved from Afghanistan as troops were withdrawn.

The jersey had originally been donated to the USO by the NFL and had become the main piece of the center in Afghanistan.

More:Should NFL retire Pat Tillman's uniform number? Petition gains support before Veterans Day

Arizona Cardinals writer Darren Urban recently wrote about the effort to save the jersey from the base.

He wrote of the jersey's journey from Afghanistan: "The USO's Kimberly Culverhouse-Steadman, charged with bringing back some of the items, left in late May with a pair of suitcases. One was her personal belongings. One had keepsakes -- including the Tillman jersey. But Culverhouse-Steadman was told before she got on the government flight she could only take one of them with her. She got a friend to mail her personal suitcase just so she could make sure the Tillman suitcase stayed close."

The jersey had been at the USO headquarters in Virginia until it was sent to Arizona to stay with the Pat Tillman Foundation.

"Pat's jersey was the centerpiece of the Tillman Memorial USO center at Bagram Airfield, and for our service members and our allies who visited the center, it came to symbolize all that Pat's legacy and the USO represent: family, home and country," USO West Regional President Bob Kurkjian said during the jersey ceremony on Sunday. "I think Pat's light burned a little brighter every time a dusty, weary soldier set foot in the USO, seeking solace, comfort, and just a momentary escape from the war around them."

Tillman, a former Arizona State star and standout safety for the Cardinals, turned down a three-year contract after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to enlist in the U.S. Army.

He was killed in action on April 22, 2004 in Afghanistan.

Tillman was inducted into the Cardinals Ring of Honor in 2006.

Cardinals owner and Pat Tillman Foundation board member Michael Bidwill was on the field for the presentation with several members of the Tillman Foundation. Two of the most recent Tillman Scholars, U.S. Army veteran HyeJung Park (2020) and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Michael Hall (2021), were also recognized during the ceremony.

An online petition for the NFL to retire Pat Tillman's No. 40 jersey league-wide has gained some steam recently.

The NFL has never retired a uniform number league-wide.

More:How Pat Tillman announced he was joining the Army

Honoring Pat Tillman

Several Cardinals players honored Pat Tillman during Sunday's game.

The Cardinals' Chandler Jones wore cleats honoring Tillman with the message: "American by birth. Patriot by choice."

Injured defensive lineman J.J. Watt entered the stadium wearing a Tillman jersey.

Injured Cardinals tight end Maxx Williams wore a Tillman jersey at home.

The Las Vegas Raiders' Josh Jacobs also wore cleats honoring the former Cardinals player.

The NFL paid tribute to veterans in Week 10 as part of the Salute to Service program and in honor of Veterans Day.

More: Peter King wouldn't vote Pat Tillman into Hall of Fame

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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