Mississippi native NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre said he thinks Colin Kaepernick will at some point reach “hero status,” and compared Kaepernick to the late NFL player Pat Tillman.

The statement was made in a video published by TMZ Sports on Sunday.

“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 in the video. “So I’d assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well.”

Tillman chose to leave the NFL and his position as safety for the Arizona Cardinals to join the U.S. Army shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Tillman was killed in 2004 while serving in Afghanistan.

Kaepernick played for the San Francisco 49ers for six years. He last played in 2016 when he became famous (or infamous to some Americans) for kneeling during the national anthem as a silent protest against police brutality and injustice.

Favre said Kaepernick deserves another shot at NFL play.

“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 said.