Posted on 09/25/2017 11:44:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva surprised his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates Sunday when he stood in the tunnel for the national anthem at Soldier Field.
Several Steelers players told ESPN that they expected the entire team to stay in the locker room -- as planned -- for the pregame song.
But the former Army Ranger decided to walk out of the locker room and stand in the tunnel with his hand over his chest during the rendition. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stood on his team's sideline during the song, without his team behind him.
Villanueva served multiple terms in Afghanistan.
His jersey has skyrocketed in sales since he took his stance on Sunday. His jersey sales trailed just Marshawn Lynch, Derek Carr, Carson Wentz, Antonio Brown and Aaron Rodgers as of 7:45 p.m. on Fanatics.com. according to 247 Sports.
His jersey was the top seller of any player as of Monday afternoon.
A spokesman for Fanatics told ESPN that Villanueva has been the most popular player in the NFL, when it comes to merchandise sales on the site, for the last 24 hours.
Tomlin revealed that his team would not participate in the national anthem on the field in an interview before the game.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Gonna get one.
Just ordered mine.
Want to honor the player. Hate to reward the NFL with money.
The statement is far more profound than the margins.
If you really want to pay tribute to this guy, order a U.S. Military Academy Black Knights jersey with his name and number on it. I think he wore #82 when he played there.
Nothing speaks louder than money to those p****ks.
God Bless all 6” 9” of him!
YES!!
And it’s my old high school number. Gotta get one.
CC
They’re less expensive if you go through the NFL site than the Steelers site; I had to hold my nose to keep from gagging when I went there.
UPI and their reporter can’t write their way out of a paper bag. Villanueva didn’t serve “terms” in Afghanistan. He served “tours of duty” in that craphole. Politicians are elected to serve “terms”, convicted criminals serve “terms” in prison...but I repeat myself.
As I just wrote on somebody else’s Facebook post about Villanueva: He took an oath to defend the nation and that doesn’t go away just because he took off the military uniform. He EARNED the privilege of being able to take that oath. His team that stayed in the locker room and the coach who criticizes him have not EARNED any such privilege except to STFU and stand behind the MAN who understands what Duty, Honor, Country really means. They get to draw a free breath and exercise their freedoms because of MEN like Villanueva. It certainly isn’t by anything they’ve done.
This is an American hero. He will live the rest of his life with the adoration and respect of a grateful country. Keapernick and his butt boy followers will be traitors to this nation. We now have unity against this racism.
When I was a lad in 6th grade, scion of a left-wing family, avidly reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and listening to Buffy St. Marie, I was the only kid who refused to stan for the National Anthem. I grew up and smartened up considerably since then, but one thing I remember is my father, the leftist professor, explaining to me that really the Anthem raises a note of skepticism at the end. “Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave” according to my father, was a call to introspection, to see if America is still worthy of the ideals on which it was founded. He was right, but I was a pig-headed little left-wing feller, and kept “taking a knee” and getting yelled at by everyone.
One valuable thing I learned from the experience was how to make a stand all alone against a hostile majority, even though in retrospect I realize that the majority and my father were all right and I was wrong.
Vilanueva has already learned that lesson. He’s a lone voice of sanity in an industry which is killing itself, and taking heat for his stand. All power to him. And he’s right.
20% off at fanatics.com
Yep, the revolt against liberalism and PC begun has.
Tom Brady said that what President Trump said was “divisive”.
What Tom and his ilk fail to see is that the Kaepernick kneel is what is “divisive”. It is not divisive to stand at attention for the national anthem. It is courtesy and respect for all who have fought to defend that flag. Yes, mostly white folks for sure, but many black folks as well. Thousands and thousands of those folks paid the ultimate price with their lives. Is that “divisive”, Tom?
Forget the country Tom. Look to your own NFL rule book. You taunt another player or show too much celebration , or don’t stand for the anthem you are supposed to be penalized. Which is more “divisive” Tom, “taunting” another player or not taunting? Do you condone ridiculing your teammate for a botched play? No, that is “divisive”. Yet you can not allow your fellow teammates and fans to honor their country by standing for the national anthem. Instead you encourage a minority of your teammates to “taunt” them and their beliefs.
Spoiled rotten hypocrites, all.
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