Vince Wilfork Calls Slain MIT Officer a ‘True Patriot, True Hero’

On Saturday, for a candelight vigil to remember slain

New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork took a moment Saturday to pay his respect to Collier, tweeting the following message:

“Officer Sean Collier, true Patriot, true Hero,” Wilfork said via his Twitter handle, @wilfork75. “A loyal @Patriots fan. He was the ultimate defender of this country. RIP my man.”

Collier, a Wilmington native and Somerville resident, was allegedly by brothers Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev, the same men investigators believed to be responsible for the fatal bombing attack at Monday's Boston Marathon.

He will be remembered by many as someone who had the qualities of “an ideal police officer.”

Wilfork, who has called the Foxborough area home for nearly 10 years now, established a donation fund for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings through his foundation, The Vince Wilfork Foundation.

Wilfork and his wife, Bianca, have been busy Tuesday promoting the donation fund and took to Twitter to ask fans and followers to “help them help Boston.”

“We can all make a difference,” said Bianca Wilfork via Twitter (@mrs75).

 To donate to the Vince Wilfork Foundation fund for the Boston Marathon victims, simply text VINCE to the number 50555. Directions will follow your text message and you will be able to donate $10 to the Vince Wilfork Foundation.

“If we get 1,000 people to donate, the foundation will donate an additional $10,000 to help those affected by the Boston bombings,” the Wilfork Foundation said via Twitter. “This will go from now until the end of the month. Please help us help Boston.”

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