Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre compared Colin Kaepernick to former Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, who died in Afghanistan after enlisting in the Army Rangers, saying that Kaepernick will reach “hero status.”
“I can only think of, right off the top of my head, Pat Tillman’s another guy who did something, you know, similar, and we regard him as a hero,” Favre said. “So I’d assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well,” Farve told TMZ Sports in a video interview over the weekend when asked whether Kaepernick had reached notoriety comparable to Muhammad Ali or Jackie Robinson.
Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and racism. He subsequently became a free agent in 2017 and recently settled with the football league over claims that the NFL colluded against him.
Tillman left the NFL and enlisted in the Army in 2002 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He died in Afghanistan in 2004 by friendly fire and has been lauded by the public for his bravery to enlist and leave behind his promising career in football.
“It’s not easy for a guy his age, black or white, Hispanic, whatever, to stop something that you’ve always dreamed of doing and put it on hold — maybe forever — for something that you believe in,” Favre said.
“I think from a football sense. … I can’t imagine him being that far out of shape that — or that far out of touch with football — that he doesn’t deserve a shot,” he said. “And he’s still young and hasn’t been hit in several years, so there’s no reason to think that he’s lost that much of a step.”
Though some have lauded Favre’s comments, the former Green Bay Packers quarterback also met criticism from some on Twitter who claimed that Tillman’s military service and death aren’t comparable to Kaepernick’s activism work.
Nobody out-wokes the NFL.
Whenever they return to play, Kaepernick will be back, playing somewhere. And any defender who sacks him will be branded a hater & immediately fined by the league. https://t.co/av0nbVazKd
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 22, 2020
Brett Favre thinks Colin Kaepernick is a hero like Pat Tillman.
Tillman gave up fame and fortune to serve in the military, and he paid the ultimate price.
Kaep called cops slave catchers, wore pig socks and praised Castro. It’s an insulting comparison. https://t.co/uMu4uRazXd
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) June 21, 2020
BREAKING:
Colin Kaepernick and Pat Tillman are not even on the same PLANET!!
Tillman was a HERO! NOT KAEPERNICK!
One gave up the NFL to serve his Country and pay the ultimate sacrifice for the other (a backup QB) to kneel….
Tillman > Kaepernick
RT!
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) June 21, 2020
