During Thursday’s episode of Good Morning Football, NFL Network host Kyle Brandt gave an emotional tribute to a friend who was recently killed in Ukraine.
Brandt opened the segment by describing how he came to know some members of the Ukrainian League of American Football and stayed in touch with them as the country was invaded by Russia. Sadly, Brandt shared that he learned his friend Danylo Boguslawski was recently killed by a Russian tank.
Sad, frustrated and angry to bring this update from my guys fighting in Ukraine 🇺🇦
Danylo Boguslawski will not be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/bpNW8c1DMZ
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) October 20, 2022
“Danylo, wherever you are, we respect you, we love you. To your mother, to everyone around you, certainly to Roman, you will not be forgotten here in the United States, here in the NFL,” Brandt said. “Thank you so much for all that you do. Danylo, wherever you are, I will say what you have said to me so many times, which is stand with Ukraine.”
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February of this year, Boguslawski, his brother Roman and several of their teammates put football aside to join the front lines and fight back against Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Boguslawski and Brandt never met in person, but their friendship began through football, and in recent months, they kept in close touch through video messaging. Brandt was also working on telling the story of these Ukrainian football players turned war heroes by partnering with NFL 360 to create a documentary.
“They are in front of blown-out buildings with machine guns talking about how they love Tom Brady and what they’re going through,” Brandt said of his friends in Ukraine during an interview with USA Today earlier this year. “I think they’re appreciative and they love that this story is being talked about because they don’t want to be forgotten.”
For Boguslawski, the decision to trade football pads for military gear in an effort to defend his country from Putin’s Russian regime ended up costing him his life. During Thursday’s tribute to Boguslawski, Brandt was clearly heartbroken by the tragedy of losing a friend.
While headlines about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have faded since February, Brandt’s Good Morning Football segment on Thursday is an important reminder of the ongoing war of aggression and the innocent people who are being killed.
