Week 3: In response to President Donald Trump's opinion that players should be fired for disrespecting the American flag and refusing to stand for the national anthem, the Pittsburgh Steelers decided as a consensus to protest the national anthem and not even appear on the field during the national anthem to honor America. However, as the entire Steelers roster stood in the shadows during the National Anthem, only one Steelers player named Alejandro Villanueva (shown above) was the only player in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization to stand for the national anthem. Alejandro Villanueva is a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger who served 3 tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Alejandro Villanueva is a true patriot - single-handedly holding the honor and dignity of the entire Steelers organization on his shoulders. He recognized that honoring his homeland and the people who fought and died for it, was more important than the "game" - while the rest of his team abandoned him.
Pittsburgh Steelers Who Protested the National Anthem
While Alejandro Villanueva was the only member of the Steelers who proudly stood alone for the National Anthem, the entirety of the Steelers roster stood in the shadows of the stadium tunnels like cowards. In week 3, the entire home team Chicago Bears stood for the National Anthem - standing with the fans and America, proud for their country. It is only fitting that the Pittsburgh Steelers got their asses handed to them in week 3 by the Bears, in a stadium called "Soldier Field".
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It was pretty dumb for Head Coach Mike Tomlin to put the players in a position where they must all unanomously agree to boycott the National Anthem, but order them to all boycott (stay in the locker room) if there is no consensus. It was dumb to even think that Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva, who served 3 tours in Afghanistan and watched some of his friends die in battle, would boycott the National Anthem at Soldier Field (of all places). Mike Tomlin won't be on the Steelers much longer.
WEEK 3:
The Pittsburgh Steelers protested for the first time at Soldier Field following President Donald Trump's criticism of players protesting the National Anthem. Apparently, Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin told the team that they must either come to a consensus on what to do on the field. Either all players would stand or all protest. If no consensus was met, all players were to stay in the locker room and boycott the National Anthem by default. There was clearly no consensus and so the entire team (except for Alejandro Villanueva) stood in the tunnels and boycotted the National Anthem. Mike Tomlin and some of the coaching staff stood on the sidelines during the anthem while the players were to wait.
Alejandro Villanueva is an Army Ranger who served 3 tours in Afghanistan. He is a true hero who rescued soldiers and watched some of his friends die in real battle. Alejandro Villanueva was the only player from the Steelers team who stood outside the tunnel in the open with his hand over his heart for the National Anthem. Alejandro Villanueva later said it was unintentional and that he didn't want to make the team look bad. WE say Mike Tomlin never should have forced the team into that kind of position, especially putting Alejandro Villanueva in a hard spot to question his loyalty to America or the Steelers football team (and the choice is obviously America First). It is unacceptable that there was even a protest/boycott of the National Anthem to begin with - that is a red line.
