Alejandro Villanueva will never stand alone

There’s a reason that the NFL protests during the National Anthem have become about “unity” and “team solidarity” instead of what they’re really about. As Steve Berman wrote, they’re about breaking the threads of Americana that bind Americans together, such as the National Anthem. But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin can’t say that, so he criticized a former Army Ranger who fought for his country for honoring his country in his new uniform.

Mike Tomlin: “I was looking for 100 percent participation”

Alejandro Villanueva refused to cower in the clubhouse with the rest of his teammates, and instead stood alone, hand over heart, during the national anthem. And Tomlin thought that was disrespectful.

“Like I said, I was looking for 100 percent participation, we were gonna be respectful of our football team,” Tomlin said.

The Resurgent’s Peter Heck had some words for Mike Tomlin, and a promise for Alejandro Villanueva. He may stand without his teammates to honor his country, but Villanueva will never stand alone.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin raps Alejandro Villanueva for standing for national anthem | Greg Norman, Fox News

“Many of them felt like something needed to be done. I asked those guys to discuss it and whatever they discussed that we have 100 percent participation or we do nothing,” Tomlin said after the game. “They discussed it for an appropriate length of time and they couldn’t come to an understanding, so they chose to remove themselves from it. They were not going to be disrespectful in the anthem so they chose not to participate, but at the same time many of them were not going to accept the words of the president.”