Alejandro Villanueva is the starting left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has been with the team in one form or another since 2014, when he joined the Steelers’ practice squad. While Villanueva has never really been at the center of attention, all eyes were on him prior to Pittsburgh’s game against Chicago on Sunday.
Villanueva, a graduate of the United States Military Academy who served in the Army after graduating from West Point in 2010, stood in the tunnel prior to the game and put his hand on his heart for the national anthem. This was a big deal, as the Steelers made the decision to stay off the field while the anthem played because, in the words of head coach Mike Tomlin, they did not want to “play politics.”
But on Monday, Villanueva apologized for his decision to stand in front of everyone, saying he unintentionally threw his teammates under the bus.
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:"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
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
Villanueva also discussed football players kneeling, at least from the perspective of the Steelers organization. Mentioning that he supports teammates who kneel, Villanueva pointed out that those who take a knee have thanked him for his military service.
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
As he explained, Villanueva found himself in this situation kind of by accident.
“When we came out of the locker room into that tunnel, it was a very small area,” Villanueva said, according to CBS Pittsburgh. “There was a flag or something coming off the field so there were a bunch of Bears fans, coming off the field holding that going in front of us, so it kind of held us up.”
Ben Roethlisberger also stepped in and gave insight into how the Steelers will handle the anthem going forward.
Ben Roethlisberger: “Moving forward, we will be on the field. What we do while we’re out there is yet to be determined."
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 25, 2017
Villanueva didn’t have egg on his face or anything. He wasn’t acting maliciously, made a mistake, explained what happened, and based on Roethlisberger’s comment, the entire team is ready to move on.