As Twitchy told you earlier, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was upset with offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva for breaking with the rest of his team at yesterday’s came and taking the field to stand for the National Anthem. Villanueva’s gesture may not have been a hit with his coach, but many other Americans gained a great deal of respect for him.
This afternoon, Villaneuva stepped up to the podium to address the controversy — and take one for the team:
#Steelers OT Alejandro Villanueva will be available to the media for brief comments/questions at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex shortly.
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villanueva taking to the podium pic.twitter.com/ZokJ5NJoeN
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villanueva: "This national anthem ordeal has sort of been out of control, and there's a lot of blame on myself…"
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Al Villenueva: "Every single one of my teammates is extremely supportive and extremely patriotic. I can honestly said that."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Villenueva asked Ben after Sat night meeting if he could be out in front with captains. Agreed to.
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Villenueva turned around when the Bears fan flag came in, he looked back to his teammates,then the anthem started. He couldn't walk out then
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Sadly, Villanueva apparently felt compelled to apologize for his show of patriotic respect:
Villenueva:"I made coach Tomlin look bad, and that is my fault and my fault only. I made my teammates look bad, and that is my fault…only"
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Villenueva says he "absolutely" would be OK if teammates kneeled or sat during the anthem.
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Al Villanueva says some players who have been kneeling during anthems have approached him after/before games and thanked him for his service
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Al Villanueva: "People die for the flag; there's no way else to put it…. There's nothing else that would justify dying for that mission."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Villaneuva:"When I see the flag during a mission on the shoulders of a shoulder…I'm gonna identify that and we're fighting for each other"
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villanueva: "Unfortunately, I threw (my teammates) under the bus, unintentionally."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villaneuva: "Every single time I see that picture of me standing by myself, I feel embarrassed."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
With all due respect, Mr. Villanueva, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.
Al Villanueva: "For anybody who thinks that Coach Tomlin is not as patriotic as you can get in America… I'm offended by that."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Villanueva:"I don't have anything to say about the commander in chief and his decisions…nothing to comment about what the president says."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Villanueva: "We as a team tried to figure it out, obviously we butchered it…. I'm not gonna pretend I have some kind of righteous voice."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villaneuva: "I will support all my teammates, and all my teammates and all my coaches have always supported me."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Al Villaneuva: "The team meeting that we had on Saturday night brought the whole team together. Absolutely, We had great conversations."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villaneuva: "We decided to stay away from the situation, not protest it, but stay away from the situation."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
Alejandro Villaneuva says "everybody on the offensive line was very clear that they wanted to stand for the national anthem…"
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 25, 2017
The fact that a simple gesture of patriotism has turned into such a headache for Villanueva and the Steelers says a lot about the state of the political discourse in this country.
A multi-tour Army Ranger veteran forced to apologize for honoring the National Anthem.
Welcome to the culture war, contd https://t.co/VsotuTYmeE
— Thankful Muppet Energy (Sunny) (@sunnyright) September 25, 2017
I feel bad for this guy. He did what he thought was right and took so much heat for it that he's having to back track. Wow. Thread. https://t.co/M5Syu6F1mk
— Sister Delecto Toldjah ? (@sistertoldjah) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/bkerogers/status/912434158672236545
Um, no. Stop letting them guilt you into blaming yourself. They made themselves look bad and you're the only one who did the right thing. https://t.co/VE1w8Vc9Br
— Jaime (@noahsmom7) September 25, 2017
Villenueva, who is great, is apologizing for making Tomlin look bad. Same Tomlin who tripped a player? Goodbye NFL. https://t.co/C4bZtqQdL9
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/912428197593133056
He certainly didn’t.
I think what he's saying is he wasn't trying to do something to stand apart and he regrets the attention/hate his teammates received
— Kyle Foley (@KFoleyFL) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/SnarkActual/status/912429112714776576
https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/912429552563032066
Agree, I just think he wants to be OTR telling his teammates he's with them when so many others are attacking them
— Kyle Foley (@KFoleyFL) September 25, 2017
If that’s indeed the case, then he’s even more of a stand-up guy than we thought. And he deserves so much better than this.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional text and tweets.
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