[1] While playing for the Sun Devils, he won the Morris Trophy as the best defensive lineman in the Pac-10 Conference in 1997 and was named a FWAA First-team All-American.

Cut by a football team for the first time in his life, Staat began seriously considering joining the military following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

However, Tillman, who had quit a lucrative career with the Arizona Cardinals to become a U.S. Army Ranger after the attacks, talked Staat into staying in the league for at least three more games to earn his NFL retirement benefits.

Despite speculation that he would reunite with Jake Plummer on the Arizona Cardinals, following an injury to defensive lineman Tom Burke, he would ultimately remain unsigned.

Staat eventually earned his pension during a stint with the St. Louis Rams during the 2003 season after transitioning back to the defensive line.

During the season, he learned Tillman had been killed in action in Afghanistan, in what was later revealed to be a "friendly fire" incident.

He would throw his helmet during the middle of practice and storm off the field, leaving the Avengers and professional football forever.

[1] In 2019, Staat announced that he would be running for Congress in the 2020 Election on the Republican Party ticket for California's 8th congressional district.