Brett Favre Says Colin Kaepernick Has Earned Pat Tillman "Hero" Status

In an interview with TMZ, Brett Favre said Colin Kaepernick‘s willingness to put a stop to his NFL career to fight for social justice reminds him of another player who left football to fight for his country and ended up making the ultimate sacrifice.

Speaking with the media outlet, the Hall-of-Fame QB compared 32-year-old Kaepernick to Pat Tillman, the late Arizona Cardinals safety who left football to join the Army Rangers after the terrorist attacks of September 11. The 27-year-old was killed by friendly fire while deployed in Afghanistan in 2004.

Brett Favre Compares Kaepernick To Pat Tillman, 'I'd Assume Hero Status Will Be Stamped' https://t.co/bTEOMp1773

— TMZ (@TMZ) June 21, 2020

“I can only think of — right off the top of my head — Pat Tillman’s another guy who did something similar, and we regard him as a hero,” Favre said. “So I’d assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well. 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.”

Kaepernick, who spent six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and led his team to the Super Bowl in 2013, has spent the bulk of his athletic prime on the sidelines after being blackballed by the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality.

Still, even though Kaepernick hasn’t taken a snap in an NFL game since 2016, Favre joins President Trump, Roger Goodell and others in their stated belief that the former 49er should get another shot in pro football.

“I think from a football sense, I can’t imagine him being that far out of shape or that far out of touch with football that he doesn’t deserve a shot,” Favre said. “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.”

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