You may have never heard of Alejandro Villanueva before this NFL season started, but the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman has now become a household name.
In case you missed it, Villanueva was seen emerging from the locker room when the national anthem played on Sunday despite his head coach Mike Tomlin approving his team remaining in the tunnel.
And not that Villanueva has regrets over his actions, saying he’s afraid he may have made his teammates look bad.
“This national anthem ordeal has sort of been out of control, and there’s a lot of blame on myself,” Villanueva said. “I made coach (Mike) Tomlin look bad, and that is my fault and my fault only. I made my teammates look bad, and that is my fault … only. Unfortunately, I threw (my teammates) under the bus, unintentionally. Every single time I see that picture of me standing by myself, I feel embarrassed."
In defense of Villanueva, the man is a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Afghanistan—unlike the man who started this Colin Kaepernick—who probably in that time had his wealthy parents send him on three tours of Italy.
In any case, you can see why asking a man not to salute the very flag he risked his life to protect, is like asking him to turn has back on all he believes in.
Funny thing, the Steeler fans not only support what they did, but people all across America do considering that by noon yesterday, Villanueva has the best-selling jersey the country--beating out star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers, and of course, Kaepernick who still doesn’t have an NFL jersey – well, other than the ones collecting dust in his closet.
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review