Prince Harry continues to face backlash after being named the 2024 recipient of the Pat Tillman Award for Service at a glitzy ceremony hosted by Serena William, a friend of Meghan Markle.

The award is named after Pat Tillman, a former professional football star who walked away from a $3.6 million contract with the NFL to enlist in the US Army after the September 11 attacks.

In 2004, at only 27, he was killed in a friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan.

Since 2014, the Pat Tillman Award is given by ESPN to a “person with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player.” And while this year ESPN plans to award Prince Harry for his work with the Invictus Games, some believe there are others who are more deserving.

One of those people is Mary Tillman, the mother who lost her promising young son.

“I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” Mary tells the Daily Mail. “There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.”

She adds, “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.”

‘Think very hard and long’

Adding to those sentiments is Admiral Lord Alan West, the former head of the Royal Navy. Lashing out at Harry, Lord West delivered a warning to the prince, saying that accepting such an honor “doesn’t travel well with people in the military.”

The senior officer, who in January 2024 called the Duke of Sussex “pathetic” for picking up the Living Legends of Aviation Awards, urged Harry to turn down the award.

“He ought to think very hard and long about accepting awards for things like being an exceptional pilot and being exceptionally brave,” the former First Sea Lord tells the Daily Mail of the prince.

Harry, a former Apache helicopter pilot or gunner, claims in his memoir “Spare” that he killed 25 suspected Taliban insurgents during his tour in Afghanistan.

He writes, “In truth, you can’t hurt people if you see them as people…They were chess pieces taken off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys. They trained me to ‘other’ them and they trained me well.”

Harry warned to ‘to sit back’

Still, Harry receiving the award doesn’t sit well with Lord West, who urges Prince Harry to “sit back.”

“I really think Harry should be well advised to sit back and not accept awards like this…And when the mother of the man who died doesn’t want him to get this award, he should think about that.” the former chief continues, “My advice to him is to sit back and not accept any awards at the moment. They are going his way because has such a high profile and people want to take advantage of that.”

“Some of the blame must lie with ESPN. They like picking him because it gives them immense publicity. But this is rather bad publicity for Harry,” he adds.

ESPN disagrees

Meanwhile, defending its decision to honor Harry with the ESPY Award, ESPN writes in a statement to the New York Post: “ESPN, with the support of the Tillman Foundation, is honoring Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, specifically for the work of The Invictus Games Foundation as it celebrates its 10th year promoting healing through the power of sport for military service members and veterans around the world.”

The message continues, “While we understand not everyone will agree with all honorees selected for any award, The Invictus Games Foundation does incredible work and ESPN believes this is a cause worth celebrating.