It appears the nation is still reeling from the NFL player protest this Sunday. The laughable story continues to dominate news coverage and is still dividing people left and right.
The press has been quick to solicit views from famous veterans, hoping to find sympathizers to the kneel-down cause, and unsurprisingly, they’ve found quite a few. One of those possible supporters isn’t alive today, but his former Army Ranger counterpart, turned activist, claims he’d be taking a knee in support of Colin Kaepernick’s crusade.
As reported at the New York Post, Rory Fanning, who served with Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, claimed that the former NFL player would have supported the kneel-down protests if he were alive today.
“I’d be shocked if Pat Tillman wasn’t out there, taking a knee with these players,” claimed Fanning.
“Pat cared about people who were exploited, people who were oppressed. He didn’t care so much about symbols,” Fanning told CNN on Wednesday night during a town hall about the protests. “So I would definitely think Pat would air on the side of Colin Kaepernick,” he said.
Pat Tillman was an up and coming star in the NFL, playing safety for the Arizona Cardinals. But then, 9/11 happened. Instead of playing football and earning millions, Tillman left the NFL and joined the Army. He eventually became a Ranger and was deployed in Afghanistan. However, he was killed in action in 2004.
Since then, he’s become a beacon of inspiration for many, as he chose service and patriotism over fame and fortune. Due to his unique decision and sacrifice, Tillman’s name is often invoked when it comes to issues that mix sports and politics. Everyone wants to claim he’d do this or that, as if they’re certain, and as if what they think he’d do is automatically the right choice for everyone.
It really doesn’t matter what he’d do when it comes to the knee-down issue, as his opinion isn’t more important than anyone else’s. But that’s not going to stop folks from politicizing his and other veterans’ legacies to score a few points and twist the narrative in their favor.
Source: New York Post