Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre feels NFL free agent and civil rights figure Colin Kaepernick will eventually have 'hero status&#...
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre feels NFL free agent and civil rights figure Colin Kaepernick will eventually have 'hero status' like legendary Pat Tillman.
Tillman was a standout safety for the Arizona Cardinals who left in the NFL after the 2001 season to join the Army. He was later killed at age 27 by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004.
Kaepernick, a Wisconsin native who grew up rooting for Favre and the Green Bay Packers, hasn't played in the NFL since 2016, when he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racist police brutality.
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre (right) feels NFL free agent and civil rights figure Colin Kaepernick (left) will eventually have 'hero status' like legendary Pat Tillman
Pat Tillman (right) was a standout safety for the Arizona Cardinals who left in the NFL after the 2001 season to join the Army. He was killed at age 27 by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004
Despite being a seventh-round pick out of Arizona State, Pat Tillman went on to become a starting safety for the Arizona Cardinals, before enlisting in the Army in 2001. (Right) Tillman hits Packers quarterback Brett Favre as he releases the ball during a game in 2000
'Pat Tillman's another guy who did something similar, and we regard him as a hero,' Favre told TMZ after being asked if Kaepernick has reached the stature of a Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali. '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,' the Packers legend added.
Kaepernick's protests, which have continued in his absence, set off a national controversy, putting many black players at odds with white fans. NFL television ratings dropped 17 percent in 2016 and 2017, amid national uproar and criticism from President Donald Trump.
However, ratings were up around 10 percent over the 2018 and 2019 seasons even as players continued to demonstrate during the national anthem.
In fact, the NFL accounted for 41 of the 50 most-watched television broadcasts in the US last year.
Favre, echoing other quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, said he hopes Kaepernick will receive another opportunity to play in the NFL.
'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 told TMZ.
'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.'
At least one team, the Chargers, is keeping tabs on Kaepernick, according to coach Anthony Lynn (pictured), who described the embattled quarterback as a good 'fit' for his offense. 'It would be crazy to not have him on your workout list,' Lynn told reporters on Wednesday
Critics of protesting NFL players have often contrasted Kaepernick with Tillman, who is widely regarded as a hero.
President Donald Trump, for one, has called protesting players 'sons of b****es' and suggested NFL team owners should kick them out of the league. In 2017, Trump retweeted a post that used Tillman's image while attacking protesting NFL players.
Tillman's widow Marie released a statement to CNN at the time, insisting that Tillman 'should never be politicized in a way that divides us.'
'The very action of self-expression and the freedom to speak from one's heart — no matter those views — is what Pat and so many other Americans have given their lives for,' she wrote. 'Even if they didn't always agree with those views.'
In 2018, conservative columnist Stephen L. Miller compared Kaepernick unfavorably to Tillman on Twitter: 'Just putting it out there that Pat Tillman sacrificed just a *bit more than Colin Kaepernick.'
Miller's Tweet received significant criticism from such esteemed journalists as Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden.
'Pat Tillman, who I met and profiled, was smart, thoughtful and principled, with zero tolerance for b.s.,' wrote Layden. 'It's sickening that anyone would weaponize his name for low-rent trolling, when PT isn't here to speak for himself.'
Brandon Friedman, whose Twitter bio lists him as a veteran, also weighed in against Miller's 'Just putting it out there' Tweet.
'Just putting it out there that Pat Tillman vehemently opposed everything you stand for and you're garbage for invoking him or any other dead soldier to further the idea that peaceful protest is anything other than patriotic,' wrote Friedman.
Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers in anticipation of his release following the 2016 season, when he began protesting racist police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.
At least one team, the Los Angeles Chargers, is keeping tabs on Kaepernick, according to coach Anthony Lynn, who described the embattled quarterback as a good 'fit' for his offense.
'It would be crazy to not have him on your workout list,' Lynn said last week.
Kaepernick guided the 49ers to three NFC title games and a Super Bowl before losing his starting job in 2015 amid a string of injuries. He reclaimed the starter's job in 2016, but was informed by the team's incoming coaches after the season that he would be replaced.
His career 88.9 quarterback rating is superior to the marks of several quarterbacks who started over the last three seasons while he's languished on the open market.
Many, including Kaepernick, have accused the NFL of blackballing him in retaliation for the controversial protests. He filed a grievance against the league in 2017 and has since settled for an undisclosed amount.
Last fall, Kaepernick took part in a workout that was organized in part by the league, but the sides disagreed on several aspects of the workout, leading to a late change of location and lower attendance by scouts.
He has reportedly been training in hopes of an NFL return.
Free agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick makes a pass while going through a series of passing drills at Crescent Stadium at Charles R. Drew High School in Georgia during a November workout for several league scouts
Earlier this month, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a video saying, in part, 'We, the National Football League, were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier.'
Goodell also encouraged all players to 'speak out and peacefully protest,' although he did not mention Kaepernick by name.
Commissioner Roger Goodell issued an apology for failing to listen to players who kneeled in protest during the national anthem
That came in response to a video with more than a dozen star players -- including reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and Pro Bowlers Saquon Barkley and Deshaun Watson -- asking the league to admit it was wrong for 'silencing our players from peacefully protesting.'
Recently Seattle Seahawks coach Peter Carroll admitted he regrets not signing Kaepernick in 2017 or 2018, adding that the kneeling protests were 'never the issue' for the free agent quarterback.
Although Carroll has no current plans to acquire Kaepernick, he said another team is considering it, although he did not name the club.
Speaking during a virtual press conference on Thursday, Carroll emphasized his belief that Kaepernick was justified in protesting injustice by kneeling during the national anthem throughout the 2016 season.
'The first thing we know is Kap was right on point,' Carroll told reporters. 'He was right on it on the topics about police brutality and inequality.'
Carroll also stressed that Kaepernick was an 'obvious' candidate to be a starter in 2017 when he worked out for the Seahawks, who only had a backup job to offer him at the time.
But that doesn't mean the Seahawks are going to take a third swing at landing Kaepernick. Carroll said the franchise likes its quarterback situation. Journeyman Geno Smith - a 29-year-old with his fourth team - is currently the backup behind starter Russell Wilson.
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