Alejandro Villanueva and the Rest of the NFL Anthem Story (and Why it Makes Me Love Him More)

Last updated on: September 27, 2017 at 1:14 pm by Kate O'Hare

Alejandro Villanueva and the Rest of the NFL Anthem Story (and Why it Makes Me Love Him More) 2017-09-27T13:14:02-08:00 Kate O'Hare

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As previously reported here:

Today, Sunday, Sept. 24, many NFL players chose to protest by kneeling or raising fists during the playing of the national anthem. Some coaches opted to keep their teams — or the teams chose, hard to say –in the locker room or in the tunnel during the anthem to avoid players having to publicly pick sides.

One of the teams in the tunnel was the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one player decided to step out and take a stand — for his anthem, his flag and his nation.

Offensive tackle Alejandro Villaneuva came and stood, hand over heart, while the anthem was played.

The son of a Spanish naval officer who worked for NATO, Villanueva joined the NFL in 2014. Prior to that, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2010, followed by three tours in Afghanistan as an Army captain and Army Ranger. His service earned him a Bronze Star.

Villanueva is also a serious Catholic.

Turns out that Villanueva is also a humble guy and a good teammate. According to an interview Villanueva gave on Monday — the full transcript can be found here — there was not a team consensus about what to do during the athem. So Coach Mike Tomlin made the decision to remove the team from the controversy and keep them off the field. So they were all clustered in the tunnel. But Villanueva had to see the flag.

He said:

After the meeting … based on my unique circumstances and based on the fact that I’ve served in the Army and pretty much that my life is lived through the military, I asked (quarterback) Ben [Roethlisberger] if there was a way to define the inside or where it is we were going to stay, and if I could watch the national anthem from the tunnel, and he agreed. He said the captains will be out there right behind me, so this plan morphed to accommodate this tough, moral dilemma that I had in my hands to where the players can be behind me in the tunnel.

But, when the time came for Villanueva to step far enough outside the tunnel to see the flag …

Ben Roethlisberger said at :56 make sure you’re out there because the national anthem is going to start at :57. I walked out at 12:56. I asked one of the security guards when the national anthem was going to start, he said 20 seconds. So I just walked out and I stopped as soon as I saw the flag, as soon as I had a vantage point. That, to me, was enough. There was a flag that was coming in from one of the previous celebrations. When I turned around to sort of signal everyone to come so they wouldn’t leave me alone that’s when they were essentially unable to exit. At that moment it was the decision of do you walk out of the national anthem and join your teammates? I know that would have looked extremely bad. Or as a team, do you start moving halfway through the national anthem?

So essentially what we can get out of this is we butchered our plan to sort of have a response for the national anthem and respect everyone’s opinions.

As a result, Villanueva was standing alone, and he feels terrible about that.

So because of that, I’ve made Coach Tomlin look bad, and that is my fault, and that is my fault only. I made my teammates look bad, and that is my fault, and my fault only. And I made the Steelers also look bad, and that is my fault, and my fault only. So unwillingly, I made a mistake.

So, all this says to me is that Villanueva — as befits an Army Ranger — has great humility, is loyal to his teammates and grateful for the opportunities he’s been given.

If all that came out of this situation is that I learned of a man like Alejandro Villanueva, maybe in a sense, it’s worth it.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at Family Theater Productions; and check out FTP’s Faith & Family Media Blog.

Previous Post

September 25, 2017

Hit 'This Is Us' Is Back, But Why Hasn't Anyone Cloned It?

Next Post

September 29, 2017 Fox's 'The Exorcist' Returns: 5 Things You Need to Know

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books breaking news digital media Faith practice food interview jane the virgin media movies music NFL Pope Francis Showbiz 101 social media sports technology television Uncategorized video

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz