As revealed by Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin in a pre-game interview with CBS reporter Jamie Erdahl, most of the team did not participate in the national anthem ceremony prior to their game with the Chicago Bears, which they lost 23-17 in overtime.
Despite the fact that Tomlin said in the pre-game interview that they would make a decision 100 percent together, it was possible to see left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, an Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, at the edge of the tunnel during the anthem, with his hand over his heart.
The protest was one of the many staged all across the NFL after President Donald Trump’s comments on Saturday condemning those players that sit or kneel during the national anthem.
During a rally in Alabama, Trump told fans he’d love to see NFL owners say “get that son of a bitch off the field right now….He’s fired!” next time an NFL player kneels during the national anthem performance.
When asked about how he and the Steeler organization had handled Trump’s comments Tomlin said that in light of the divisive times the country is facing the team wanted to “remain solid and not be divided by anything said by anyone.”
As a result, Tomlin said that the Steelers would not participate in the anthem, not to be disrespectful to the anthem, but to remove themselves from the circumstances that forced players to choose sides.
“If a guy wants to go about his business and participate in the anthem, he shouldn’t be forced to choose sides, if a guy feels the need to do something he should not be separated from his teammates who chose not to, so we are not participating today.”
Tomlin said that the team is focused on playing football and playing to win and they would not allow politics to divide them.
“We are not going to let divisive times and divisive individuals affect our agenda as we are chasing something here in 2017 and we are not going to play politics because we are football players and football coaches.”
After the game and when asked about Villanueva Tomlin simply said that he was looking for 100 percent participation because “we were gonna be respectful of our football team,” because the intent was to have his team focus on the game and not President Trump’s comments blasting players who chose to protest.
