ESPN camera and Pat Tillman’s mother, Mary Tillman (Photos via Getty Images)
Mary Tillman is not happy with ESPN’s decision to honor Prince Harry with the Pat Tillman Award and has blasted the network over it.
The Duke of Sussex is set to be handed said awardthis month, but Tillman’s mother reckons there are others who are more deserving.
Mary spoke to the Daily Mail in a recent interview, revealing she and her family were not consulted ahead of what she described as a shocking choice.
“I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” she told the publication. “There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.
“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has. I feel that those types of individuals should be recognized.”
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Why ESPN Is Honoring Prince Harry With The Pat Tillman Award
The Prince will be handed the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPYs on July 11.
The award is presented to someone with “a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger, Pat Tillman.”
Prince Harry is being honored with the award because of his work in helping found the Invictus Games Foundation in 2014. Having served in the British Army for 10 years, the 39-year-old launched the games as a means of including wounded and sick servicemen and women in meaningful competition.
ESPN’s decision has been met with much opposition, including from their own employee, Pat McAfee.
NFL Called Out For ‘Whitewashing’ Pat Tillman’s Death Before The Super Bowl (TWEETS)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 12: Chris Stapleton performs the national anthem alongside Troy Kotsur performing in American Sign Language before Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Football fans who tuned into pregame coverage of Super Bowl LVII on Sunday witnessed an extravagant display of patriotism and militarism. That included a presentation for scholarship recipients from the Pat Tillman Foundation.
Tillman is the former Arizona Cardinals defensive back who famously left the riches of the league to enlist in the US Army in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was later killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in April 2004. He was reportedly shot three times in the head at close range, which caused major controversy.
He also seemed to dislike the United States in the Middle East before his death. Tillman had also planned to meet with anti–Vietnam War activist Noam Chomsky but died before he could.
Despite being killed by friendly fire, the Army initially announced after Tillman’s death that Afghan combats had killed him. It would take well over a month for officials to alert his family that he’d been killed by fellow soldiers.
During the pregame, it was announced that Tillman was “killed in the line of duty.”
Online, fans took to Twitter and called the NFL out for whitewashing Tillman’s legacy.
“Pat Tillman was a beautiful soul. That he thought the war in Iraq was ‘illegal as hell’ is not something to hide. It is part of what made his soul so beautiful,” said Dave Zirin.
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They whitewash Pat Tillman’s death and how he he really felt the same way they do so with MLK. It’s so disgusting how they lie and warp what really happened https://t.co/fXPXsB4bFg
— Forever Amber? (@schubert_amber) February 13, 2023
