Pat tilley+biography

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Former St. Louis Globe Democrat and Sporting News writer Dennis Dillon recently caught up with Pat Tilley and is kind enough to share his story here in The Big Red Zone)

Pat Tilley described the catch as “incredible.”

No, the former Cardinals wide receiver was not talking about his one-handed, backhanded grab for a touchdown against the Baltimore Colts in , arguably the most memorable of his receptions during an season career with the Big Red.

He was referring to the pound striped marlin he and his wife, Susie, reeled in recently while fishing the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Certainly, it will make for a much more pleasant memory than Tilley’s visit to Cabo three years ago.

Back then, he woke up one morning and couldn’t speak. He had suffered a stroke.

Tilley was taken to a four-room hospital in Cabo, where it was discovered that fluid had seeped into his lungs and he had pneumonia.