The former Leland football star, who played for the South team in the Silicon Valley Youth Classic Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game in the summer of 1994, went on to star at Arizona State University before becoming a member of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL.

That in itself, though, doesn't make Tillman unique—many former summer all-stars have gone to play in the NFL and a great many have gone on to play at the collegiate level. And when the 29th annual game is played on July 23, 7:30 p.m., at San José City College, there will no doubt be more future college and professional stars on the field.

But what makes Tillman's story unlike any other is that he quit the NFL last year to join the U.S. Army Ranger corps and is now serving in Iraq. What's more, he didn't do it alone. He was joined by his brother Kevin, who quit professional baseball to join the Rangers.

For his sacrifice, Tillman was presented with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards.

All-stars have gone in interesting directions following participation in the summer classic. The 2003 all-stars will no doubt follow some interesting paths of their own.

Among the local players set to play for the North team in the summer game are Chris Bencomo of Lynbrook, Andrew Ravadge and Ben Reynolds of Cupertino and Will Faules, Garren Strong and Ramont Thomas of Homestead.

Faules, Strong and Thomas led the Mustangs to the Central Coast Section Division II finals last fall.

Ravadge and Reynolds led the Pioneers to the CCS semifinals last season. Reynolds was his division's defensive player of the year and Ravadge won all-league first honors. Lynbrook's Bencomo won an all-league spot as a defensive back.