Brett Favre believes Colin Kaepernick is on the same level as Pat Tillman.
The comparison made by the retired quarterback has to do with "leaving" an NFL career behind for a greater good.
"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 told TMZ Sports on Sunday.
"I can only think of right off the top of my head, Pat Tillman is another guy that did something similar. And we regard him as a hero. So, I'd assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well."
Kaepernick didn't exactly "leave" the league after the 2016 season the same way Tillman did after 9/11. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback was ostracized from the NFL for peacefully protesting racial injustice and police brutality in the country, by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem.
Tillman left his career as an Arizona Cardinals safety to join the U.S. Army in 2001. He was killed while on patrol in Afghanistan in 2004.
"He was a dynamic player when he was playing in his prime," Favre said of Kaepernick. "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."
• A video surfaced Sunday of the apparent assault on Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert in an Aberdeen, S.D., bar early Saturday. The 6-foot-5, 256-pound Goedert, a South Dakota State product, appeared to be sucker-punched in the video, which according to the Twitter user who posted it said it was security footage from the bar.
• Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is expected to sign his $31.4 million exclusive franchise tender, a source told the Dallas Morning News. For three months, Prescott had refused to sign the tag and boycotted the team's virtual offseason program, which ended last week, as leverage in continued negotiations.
SOCCER
Dimitrov tests positive
Soccer resumed in one of the Italian cities hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic with a poignant Serie A match Sunday as Atalanta gave a much-needed boost to the residents of Bergamo.
Atalanta beat Sassuolo 4-1 in its first Serie A match in 112 days and the first in Bergamo since Feb. 15. Serie A resumed this weekend with four matches.
"There's a lot going on in the world and Bergamo has been hit hard. This win was for the city, the people, the club. The worst days are behind us, change is coming," Atalanta midfielder Marten de Roon wrote on Twitter.
More than 16,000 people have died from the virus in the Lombardy region containing Bergamo, and the small city was one of the epicenters of the outbreak.
AROUND THE HORN
Tennis: Grigor Dimitrov tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the cancellation of an exhibition event in Croatia where top-ranked Novak Djokovic was due to play in the final. Dimitrov, ranked No. 19, is the highest-profile current player to say he has the virus. Professional tennis tours are planning to resume in August.
Golf: Two-time major champion So Yeon Ryu closed with an even-par 72 to win the Korea Women's Open in her first tournament in four months because of the pandemic. Ryu offered her entire prize money of just over $200,000 for coronavirus relief funds. Several Korean LPGA Tour players have been playing their home circuit since it returned in May. … Michelle Wie West announced she and her husband, Golden State Warriors executive Jonnie West, are parents of a daughter, Makenna, born Friday.
Auto racing: Six-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton is setting up a commission to increase diversity in motorsports. The Mercedes driver said he is aiming to make the sport "become as diverse as the complex and multicultural world we live in." … Doctors treating Italian racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi say the 53-year-old remains stable after a crash on his handbike.
Horse racing: A horse injured after crossing the finish line of a race at Santa Anita was euthanized, making it the 15th fatality at the California track since late December. Strictly Biz, a 4-year-old colt, fractured his right knee while galloping past the finish of the sixth race Saturday.
Obituaries: Max Tuerk, a standout offensive lineman at Southern California from 2012 to '15, died Saturday while hiking north of San Diego at age 26. Tuerk's family did not provide any other details. … British superbike rider Ben Godfrey, 25, died after being involved in a collision with another bike at an event on the Donington Park track in central England on Sunday.
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