Brett Favre believes Colin Kaepernick will reach a "hero status" in football similar to that of Pat Tillman.

TMZ Sports asked Favre whether he thinks Kaepernick has reached the stature of a figure such as Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali and whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame based on his work on and off the field.

"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. "So I'd assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well."

Tillman, a safety for the Arizona Cardinals, chose to leave the NFL for the U.S. Army in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was killed in 2004 by friendly fire while deployed in Afghanistan.