Villenueva I believe was pressured to apologize. He has nothing to apologize for. His teammates and the Steelers organization should apologize to him. Watching Mike Tomlin and Roethlisberger trying to save face is a laugh. They are self absorbed idiots who think they are better than even Veterans. They can KISS MY RED WHITE AND BLUE A**.... I say when they come out of the tunnels that the fans should douse them in soda and bring pillows with goose feathers and open them up on them. Yes Tar n Feather them. That goes for all these teams that hid in the tunnels like a bunch of punks with yellow streaks down their backs!!!
Don't know if you have seen it but Rooney sent out letter to Steelers fans. He doesn't realize that the flag , star spangled banner, are all about patriotism and not about Protesting some other grievance.....
Also I wonder where race comes in the most important line of the Banner so why choose that to protest.... No one can contradict that they aren't literally free, and I'm assuming they would count themselves as " brave" playing a brutal sport.
" O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave "
Steelers owner Art Rooney II sent out a letter to fans on Monday explaining the disrespectful actions.. but not apologizing.
To Steelers Nation:
I want to reach out to you, the members of Steelers Nation, based on what I believe is a misperception about our players’ intentions in not taking the field for the National Anthem in Chicago. The intentions of Steelers players were to stay out of the business of making political statements by not taking the field. Unfortunately, that was interpreted as a boycott of the anthem – which was never our players’ intention.
Our players come from many different backgrounds and are united by what it means to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are active in their communities and participate regularly in events designed to give back to those communities. And they appreciate the support they get from Steelers fans around the country and here at home.
I also know that our players have tremendous respect for the members of our military services, including their teammate Alejandro Villanueva. There was never any desire on the part of our players to show disrespect for our service members.
Yesterday, I received an email from a Steelers fan who said tell the players to just play football. That is exactly what they wanted to do. They wanted their sole focus to be on playing the game, while also coming together as a unified team.
The main thing we can do is learn from this and strive to come together remaining unified as a football team. I believe we are capable of accomplishing this with the support of our fans.
Steelers Nation is made up of the best fans in the National Football League. We appreciate your continued support of our players, coaches and staff.
Sincerely,
Art Rooney, II
