Patt Tillman's Mom "Shocked" by Prince Harry's ESPY in Her Son's Name

Prince Harry REACTS to Military Uniform Controversy

In Mary Tillman's opinion, the 2024 ESPY Awards aren't winning themselves immoderate glory by choosing to grant Prince Harry successful her precocious son's name.

"I americium shocked arsenic to wherefore they would prime specified a arguable and divisive idiosyncratic to person the award," she told the Daily Mail of ESPN opting to grant the Duke of Sussex—who is simply a British Army veteran—the 2024 Pat Tillman Award for Service during the ESPYs connected July 11.

In announcing Harry arsenic the recipient of the Tillman award, which is "given to a idiosyncratic with a beardown transportation to sports who has served others successful a mode that echoes the bequest of the erstwhile NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger," ESPN noted the royal's 2 tours successful Afghanistan and his consequent cofounding of the Invictus Games for wounded servicemen and women.

But Pat's mom, who said she was not consulted earlier the prime was announced, had her reasons for voicing her disapproval.

Pat was a first-team All-American astatine Arizona State who was drafted 26th by the Arizona Cardinals successful 1998. Playing safety, helium turned down a $3.6 cardinal declaration to enlist successful the U.S. Army pursuing the Sept. 11, 2001, violent attacks, and served successful some Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was 27 erstwhile helium was killed April 22, 2004, successful Spera, Afghanistan, by what Defense Department and legislature investigations aboriginal determined was affable fire.

Tom Cruise led a tribute to Pat astatine the 2004 ESPYs that July.

Meanwhile, ESPN big Pat McAfee besides pushed backmost against his web giving Harry the award, calling it a enactment that was "trying to piss radical off."

"When you bash thing similar this," the 37-year-old said connected his eponymous show, "you cognize the contiguous absorption from humans and from sports fans and, like, radical with, like, conscionable communal consciousness successful brains."

Responding to the backlash, which included an online petition demanding ESPN reconsider, the web refused to sack Harry.

"ESPN, with the enactment of the Tillman Foundation, is honoring Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, specifically for the enactment of The Invictus Games Foundation arsenic it celebrates its 10th twelvemonth promoting healing done the powerfulness of athletics for subject work members and veterans astir the world," an ESPN spokesperson said successful a statement, per The Athletic.

"While we recognize not everyone volition hold with each honorees selected for immoderate award, The Invictus Games Foundation does unthinkable enactment and ESPN believes this is simply a origin worthy celebrating."

Harry, 39, has credited his subject work for changing his  life, "forever and for the better."

His acquisition "made maine the antheral I americium today," helium said successful a video code astatine the 2020 Stand Up for Heroes benefit. "And it besides connected maine with immoderate of the strongest, funniest and astir memorable radical I've ever met."

Serving "changed however I viewed sacrifice and service," Harry said. "I was calved into a beingness of duty, but it was during my decennary successful the service that I committed to a beingness of service."

Buffalo Bills information Damar Hamlin, who returned to active-player status 7 months aft going into cardiac arrest during a January 2023 Monday Night Football game, was given the grant past year.