Curt Schilling defends Nazi memorabilia collection

Written By Travis Durkee
(Getty Images)

Former MLB pitcher and current ESPN analyst Curt Schilling was suspended by the network Tuesday for posting a meme on Twitter that compared Muslim extremists to German Nazis.

He quickly deleted the tweet and later apologized on Facebook, but his actions brought attention to his collection of World War II memorabilia - a collection featuring dozens of swastikas.

MORE: MLB's most infamous moments | Reviewing Schilling as a broadcaster

Schilling defended his collection to, saying his memorabilia is "not a Nazi collection. It's a collection of World War II stuff."

Schilling posted pictures of his collection on Facebook back in April, when not much was made of the abundance of swastikas, but opened himself up to further scrutiny with a tweet he called "stupid."

"It was a tragically horrible time in the world's history," Schilling said of World War II. "I have never done anything to offend anyone. I don't have a racist bone in my body. People that know me know that. I can't help what people get offended by. I can't help how people want to interpret things."