Pittsburgh Steelers OL Villanueva’s Full Explanation Of His Anthem Stance
How does an offensive lineman’s jersey become the top seller in the NFL overnight? He wins the hearts of those angered by the NFL players, coaches and owners who publicly protested social injustice and the comments made by President Trump regarding kneeling during the National Anthem. Here’s the full story behind Alejandro Villanueva’s decision and his respect for those who protest.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva met the media Monday to discuss what happened prior to Sunday’s game in Chicago.
While some NFL players knelt, sat or locked arms during the anthem Sunday as a show of unity and form of protest to comments made by President Trump, the Steelers had planned to stay in the locker room instead of making any gesture on the sidelines. But Villanueva was photographed by himself in a tunnel by the field with his right hand over his heart during the anthem at Soldier Field.
Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who toured several times in Afghanistan, explained what happened:
Alejandro Villanueva: This is humbling.
So I’ll first address the last 48 hours of events and what’s transpired.
This national anthem sort of ordeal has been out of control, and I think there’s a lot to blame on myself, and I want to address it.
So Saturday night, as you guys all know, there was a team meeting that was going to determine what we were going to do as a team. Coach [Mike] Tomlin gave us the guidance that we had to do it as one, so 100 percent, whatever it is that we had to do.
There was disagreement in what we were going to do. And the only course of action was to go inside and remove ourself from the situation. It was never to disrespect the national anthem. Every single one of my teammates is extremely supportive and extremely patriotic in this locker room. And I can not only say that for this locker room, but I can say that across the NFL, every single player that I’ve gone against…
…I’ve made Coach Tomlin look bad, and that is my fault, and that is my fault only. I made my teammates look bad, and that is my fault, and my fault only. And I made the Steelers also look bad, and that is my fault, and my fault only. So unwillingly, I made a mistake. I talked to my teammates about the situation, hopefully they understand it. If they don’t, I still have to live with it, because the nature of this debate is causing a lot of very heated reaction from fans from players, and it’s undeserving to all of the players and coaches from this organization.
So with that, I’ll open up for any questions.
Al, would you be OK if … Ben said everyone’s going to go onto the field in Baltimore. Would you be OK if your teammates knelt — some of them knelt, some of them sat?
AV: Yeah, absolutely. There have been players that have gone out of their way in the National Football League to thank me for my service. The archrivals in the AFC North, Terrell Suggs, Michael Johnson, John Harbaugh, they’ve gone out of their way after a game to thank me for my service. And not just because it’s me, it’s because I’m a soldier, I could be Soldier X, and they’re out there thanking me.
So out of all these players in the NFL who are taking a knee, I don’t think as a veteran I take offense. In a big picture where there’s customized different thing, nobody thinks when you’re taking a knee you’re offending the flag. And they’re saying it. And I don’t think that anybody that standing for the flag is not respecting the fact that there is a lot of unjustices and racial divide in our country. So we’re essentially talking about two completely different things….
