On a Sunday where more than 100 NFL players sat or took a knee during the national anthem, a 6-foot-9 West Point grad stood tall.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva, who made multiple deployments to Afghanistan after receiving his commission and earned a Bronze Star with “V” device for his actions in the war zone, was the only member of his club to take the field during the anthem prior to Sunday‘s game at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
What had been an occasional protest by a handful of players leaguewide during national anthems (tracing its roots back to former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick) multiplied Sunday after tweets and other remarks from President Trump suggesting that any player who made such a statement should be suspended or fired.