Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva on Monday night broke with his team’s social justice protest and instead honored a fallen American military hero.
The dissent: The Steelers had decided to pay tribute to Antwon Rose Jr., a black teenager who was shot dead by police, by wearing decals on the back of their helmets bearing his name during the season, a form of protest recently approved by the NFL.
- “This year the NFL is allowing players to wear helmet decals to honor victims of systemic racism. Players could select the name of an individual to wear on their helmet and the Steelers players and coaches united as one to wear a single name on the back of their helmets and hats for the entire 2020 season – Antwon Rose Jr.,” the team said on its website on Monday.
Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Afghanistan before entering the NFL, was the only member of the Steelers to defy the team’s plan.
- During ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast, Villanueva was seen covering up Rose’s name with that of Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe.
- Cashe died in 2005 from burns he sustained while trying to rescue fellow soldiers from a flaming vehicle that was exploded by a roadside bomb in Samarra, Iraq.
- He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions, and the Pentagon wants to give him the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration, which would make him the first black service member so recognized for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Rose, 17, was fatally shot in 2018 by an East Pittsburgh police officer as he fled arrest for his involvement in a drive-by shooting minutes earlier; the now-former officer was last year found not guilty of murder in the incident.
- The teen’s death and the officer’s trial spurred protests in Pittsburgh and made him an icon of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The reaction: Many liberal commentators on Twitter criticized Villanueva’s decision to call an audible not included in the NFL’s BLM-themed playbook.
Atlantic contributor and former ESPN host Jemele Hill suggested he had betrayed his teammates and exposed himself as holding unacceptable views.
But conservatives, like Fox News contributor Jim Hanson, applauded Villanueva for showing patriotism and for not bowing to “the mob.”
At a press conference following the Steelers’ 26-16 win at the New York Giants, coach Mike Tomlin defended Villanueva.
- “As an organization, and myself as the head coach of the organization, we’re going to support our players however they chose to participate and express themselves, or to not participate or not express themselves, as long as they do so thoughtfully and with class,” he said.
The iconoclast: Villanueva previously made headlines in 2017 when he stood alone outside the Steelers’ tunnel during the national anthem while the rest of his team remained in the locker room.
- In June, amid renewed anthem protests and nationwide unrest over racism and policing, Villanueva declined to share his thoughts.
- “It was taken out of context the last time I talked about this issue,” he said at the time. ‘I will never speak on it again.”
