Army Veteran Alejandro Villanueva is Sole Steelers Player to Stand Outside For National Anthem

Pittsburgh Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva stood tall on Sunday for the national anthem, even though his teammates were off the field and out of sight.

The 6’9” former Army Ranger, one of the NFL's tallest players, stood outside with his hand over his heart for The Star-Spangled Banner before the game against the Chicago Bears.... ~snip~

Villanueva, 29, played college football at West Point, graduating with a degree in systems engineering, according to the Philadelphia Eagles, who signed him in May 2014 before cutting him in August of that year.

During his military career, Villanueva served three tours in Afghanistan and became an Army Ranger, the team said. He is a recipient of the Bronze Star medal for overseas service and the Bronze Star medal for valor. ~snip~

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2017/...yer-to-stand-outside-for-national-anthem.html

I respect this guy.

 

This is what a patriotic American looks like.

 

I know there must have been other players who would have been out there, but were afraid to go against popular culture.

Thus freedom is lost and the soft tyranny of Political Correctness prevails.

 

3 tours in Afghanistan. After experiences like that, you come to appreciate what a privilege it is to be an American.

Hopefully, guys like Villanueva will inspire more of his teammates to man up.

 

It's just not a military thing but being an American.

While the political left and the "Resistance" and obstructionist try to make this a racial thing as usual, President Trump said today this has nothing to do with race but respect for the National Anthem, the American flag and those Americans who have served in the military who fought and defended the flag and Constitution.

He also mentioned "first responders."

You know, there are more former NVA soldiers, former Imperial Japanese soldiers and sailors and those who served in Germany's Wehrmacht who have shown more respect and honored those American soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who they fought against than todays liberal Democrats and progressives in America today.

That's a fact jack.

 

Gonna sound odd, but I kind of wish he stayed in the locker room. I really liked Tomlins approach. Keep everyone in the locker room and don't turn sport into political BS.

 

We needed Villanueva's approach. We needed someone to speak out for country in the face of the overwhelming hate. I'm glad he stood for the flag, and I wish other NFL players realize that their collective stomping on the flag will not serve the cause of racial inequality, social justice etc.

 

Wow: Steelers Coach Annoyed That Decorated Army Veteran Left Team to Stand for Anthem.....

With an emotional national debate swirling, his team had collectively decided not to enter the field of play until after the anthem was over, a move that head coach Mike Tomlin framed as an effort to side-step the politically-fraught controversy. But Villanueva elected not to go along with that plan. He walked down the tunnel and paid homage to the flag and anthem, all by himself. In a post-game press conference after the Steelers lost to the Bears, Tomlin sounded unhappy with his offensive lineman:

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin indicated Sunday night that he did not want offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva to stand for the national anthem, instead of sitting it out with the rest of his teammates...Tomlin said in a post-game press conference that he was looking for “100 percent participation” in whatever course of action the team took during the national anthem. When asked by a reporter about Villanueva coming out for the anthem, Tomlin said, “Like I said, I was looking for 100 percent participation, we were gonna be respectful of our football team.”

Let me see if I've got this straight: Tomlin -- a Clinton donor and fundraiser -- is upset that Villanueva was not "respectful of our football team" because he decided to honor the country for which he's courageously risked his life by not snubbing the national anthem? This is the display of 'disunity' that bothers Tomlin? If anyone on that roster has earned the right to do what he did, it's Alejandro Villanueva. Look, my views on this whole issue are fairly nuanced and conflicted, but I start to see red when kneeling through the anthem is celebrated as brave heroism, while a genuine American hero is isolated by his team and obliquely criticized by his coach for standing up for saluting the nation and flag he volunteered to serve. That is infuriating. Some people inside the NFL bubble seem to think they've won this battle:

The real division seems to be between the league and the sports media on one hand, and sports fans who finance the entire industry on the other -- the vast majority of whom side with Villanueva over the anthem sitters and kneelers whom they booed across the country yesterday. The disconnect is striking and enormous. (Incidentally, sales of the Army veteran's NFL jersey have reportedly "skyrocketed" since his one-man stand, which normally would have been unremarkable).

I'll leave you with this superb Wall Street Journal editorial on this situation, upon which I cannot improve:.....snip~

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybe...for-leaving-team-to-stand-for-anthem-n2385957

Aww gee.....Mikey didn't like it.

 

Every individual has the right to freely express his sentiments. To demand otherwise is to insist upon hypocrisy.

 

Really?

I thought it was a person with a 6th Grade education wearing a MAGA hat?

 

Indeed. My respect, too.

 

It is our, Conservatives, duty to defend and protect USA and the Constitution, so you, sir, can make a fool out of yourself. It is your guaranteed and protected right

 

Demand, no. Expect, yes.

 

Villanueva didn't drag sports into politics. Kaepernick and Tomlin did.

 

thats pure crap until you prove it

 

Now that Trump has made it explicitly clear he opposes this anthem kneeling thing, the practices is highly promoted by critical lefties, I wonder if the NFL might induce critical lefties to watch more games and help with their sagging ratings.

 

This is the exact same thing I thought when I read about Tomlin's statement. I was incredulous.

And that is what Tomlin is doing.

Seth

 

Agreed.

 

Not so. Kaepernick dragged his personal views on racism into football. It didn't become political until the politician (Trump) decided to bring politics (himself) into it. Tomlin, like most coaches/owners, supported his players.

 

Does a few pretty pictures prove something? no no it doesn't

 

I love that Villanueva exercised his First Amendment right to express himself as he so chose. But that isn't any different than what the ones who knelt did. They aren't "stomping" on the flag, AN. They aren't urinating on it, defecating on it, burning it, or dragging it through the dirt. Quietly taking a knee for 2 minutes is far more civilized than what we've seen the radical arms of both the left and the right do for the last 50 years.

 

No, it was political pre-Trump. Everyone in the sports world anyway knew about it, and was sickened by it. Sickened by the false accusation that we're some racist, bredback country(by people no less who have a MILLION times the freedom that their ancestors did.) Instead of speaking of America's virtues, they'd rather spit on the flag and our way of life.

What Trump did, was shine a big Trump light on it in only the way that he can. Should he have done so? Probably not, or at least not the way that he did it. Are my sympathies with the President here? Yes. None of this has advanced the cause of racial and social justice. It's only made America more of a laughing stock to the rest of the world.

I can imagine the Kremlin's propaganda: "Even Americans don't believe in their own country." We've got to get our (bleep) together.

 

It was one player initially, and then a few more joined him. It wasn't political. Racism, or perceived racial injustices, isn't "political".

Trump, the man who doesn't think this country is great and who doesn't like POWs and who calls the people he took an oath to defend "sons of bitches", didn't shine a light on anything here but his ignorance. Yes, we are the laughing stock of the world, and it's because of him.

 

Absolute, assbackwards, delusional, illiberal nonsense.