I just wish he would have kept them there the whole game.
I just wish he would have kept them there the whole game.
The team stood in the tunnel with their hands over their hearts behind Vilanueva.
Tomlin was pretty passionate about the subject in his presser. Worth watching. He even had a " bullshit" blanked out. Not the usual Tomlinisms.
Tomlin may have been fired up being a black man but like another poster mentioned on the other thread. This ain't saving black lives at all. In my opinion like I mentioned Kap was only doing it for attention since he was a wash up QB.
Yea, it was real sad not seeing the team come out. I agree, it is a sad, screwed up world we live in today. As a Army vet, I hate seeing everything in the world having to be so damn politically correct. I'm afraid of what the future is leading to for our young ones. As I mentioned, I served my time in the late 60's, early 70's during the VietNam era, and lost alot of some dear friends......sacrificing for all to live their dreams in peace. I believe in speaking what you think, which I do, but not hurting someone else in process. But I do draw the line to my Country and my Flag. I took an oath to defend both, and I still abide to that oath. I wish athletes, actors and professionals would just do their jobs and leave the damn politics ( of which they know nothing about) to the politicians...(which looks like they know nothing about also). Just play football and leave me enjoy my football Steeler Sunday's ! Let's all just take a deep breath and move on, and maybe have the rule of.......Stand for the Flag/Country...and Kneel for the Cross...and I'm sure things would get better for all of us. The old infantry saying was, " you'll never find an atheist in a foxhole" still holds true.
That's what I've read also, that the team called a special meeting ( no coaches) and made the decision. Glad to see that Villanueva didn't want part of it, and that he did what he thought was appropriate. Proud of you sir, and thank you for your sacrifice and service !
- - - Updated - - -
So true my friend....and thanks !
Interesting, there was a time when teams were not on the field for the national anthem.
Funny, I didn't take it that way at all. I thought it was a strong statement that (1) the Steelers weren't going to get involved in the national conversation, but (2) they were also going to show respect the servicemen by having one of their own (a vet) standing at the end of the tunnel.
For me, it was a dip of the head to those who served while staying out of everything else.
But it was disrespectful. There was no point in not standing and being on the field. It served no purpose other than to feed the selfish feelings of spoiled brats.
I bet none of them were protesting anything. All it amounted to was being a distraction. Also, how are you making a stand for your protest if no one knows what you are protesting? It is like going to protest in front of city hall, but not saying a word or displaying any signs.
Hater = Realist
Would the team have done the same thing if Dan Rooney was still with us?
I don't think he would have been pleased one bit by the team's decision to remain in the locker room.
Good article on the players meeting and options discussed -excerpt & link
Why the Steelers stayed in the locker room during the national anthem
Some disagreement remained after the game on if left tackle and Bronze Star Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva would be exempt from the collective decision.
Ben Roethlisberger introduced the players' three choices, [Chris] Hubbard said.
They could stand along the sideline holding hands.
They could stay off the field, which they did.
Or they could take the sideline with some players kneeling, some standing and some of the standing putting their hands on the shoulders of the kneeling....
The vote was split nearly in half, Hubbard said. The part-kneeling, part-standing choice never made the verbal ballot. [Coty] Sensabaugh confirmed the narrow majority.
Villanueva went on to stand outside the away team tunnel with his right hand over his chest at 12:57 p.m. while his teammates stayed in the bowels of Soldier Field. He was OK with everyone else not appearing for the anthem and everyone else accepted there would be an exception for Villanueva, Hubbard said. Ramon Foster also said the team supported Villanueva standing just off of the field during the anthem performance.
"Al was cool with it, with whatever we went through. He was on board. That's Al, man," Hubbard said. "He's a good guy."
Harrison did not think anyone was exempt.
"We thought we were all in attention with the same agreement, obviously, " he said. "But, I guess we weren't."
http://www.pennlive.com/steelers/ind...them_vote.html
That's the way I saw it as well.
However, others saw it differently. Some saw it as AV was "left alone." Others saw it as cowardly.
In my local Steelers group (Heavily military and veterans. We have a huge military presence/many bases in our area/region.), the group is about to fracture. It has divided the group and frankly, it's sad that it has now come to this for that group. There has been tension (football related) before but not like this.
It doesn't sound like Tomlin was too happy with Villanueava standing for the Anthem.
Hater = Realist
Transcript of Tomlin's postgame comments
Question: Was it your decision to not come out for the anthem and what was your thinking with that?
Tomlin: No, it wasn’t my decision. Like most teams in the National Football League, we didn’t ask for this. This was placed upon us by circumstance. I heard rumblings of guys talking during the course of the day yesterday. My contention was that we would not allow politics to divide us. We’re football players. We’re a football team. If many of them felt like something needed to be done, I asked those guys to discuss it, and whatever they discussed that we have a hundred percent participation, or we do nothing. They discussed it for an appropriate length of time. 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. So, we decided to sit it out, to not take the field, to remove ourselves from it, to focus on playing football. And so those were our intentions.
Question: Re: Villaneueva being on the field for the anthem:
Tomlin: Like I said, I was looking for a hundred percent participation. We’re going to be respectful of our football team. Man, these are divisive times in the United States. and it’s a shame, but it is, but we’re not politicians. We’re coaches and professional athletes. If those of us are individuals choose to participate in politics in some way, I’m going to be supportive of that, butut when we come out of locker rooms, we come out of locker rooms to play football games, and to be quite honest with you I didn’t appreciate our football team being drug into politics this weekend. And I’m sure that’s a global perspective. But, we’re blessed to do this for a living, and so with that blessing comes responsibility. We understand that. We understand that we’re given a platform that’s a unique one. Many of us are called to maybe do things that we wouldn’t normally do because of that platform, where people apply pressure to us to do things because of that platform. The bottom line is we chose not to play ball today in that regard. Maybe we will, but today, we just said no.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/09...ce-transcript/
Fox News has a new hero and a new villain
Since You Know Who watches a lot of Fox News there may be a tweet coming up
This is just great - AV is going to have to make a statement now
Mods - putting this here because it involves how this is impacting the Steelers rather than the pros and cons of the protests - understand if mods move this post to the soapbox forum
As a military vet I already spoke my mind about how I feel it's disrespectful to kneel during the Anthem. But I guess where my big problem with this whole 'protest' thing is...all these people are entertainer's, majority of which have NO military experience. They make big money playing games. They are like the spoiled, brat college kid's or thugs that protest and destroy buildings during riots because they don't get what they want or their way. Try disrespecting something in Korea and I bet you get a bullet in the head real fast. And now this kneeling gig is trickling down to 8 yr old kids on the fields, of which you and I know perfectly well, they have no idea what's going on. It's their coaches telling them to do it. Isn't that great ?! My big question is IF these entertainer's are sooooooo concerned, why don't they go out to the neighborhoods and help the needed families. Make sure the kid's all get to school, get educated, show them the right way to live and learn in order to get a decent job. Teach them the right and wrongs of life. I haven't heard of Kapernich( the person who wore socks that said police are pigs) doing any of this yet, even though he was soooooo concerned last year. Is each NFL team and owner's starting some sort of neighborhood project ? The FLAG is a symbol of respect for military and country. That's why you see it draped over caskets, in cemeteries, schools, prisons, banks, work area's, stores, libraries, restaurants, front yards, etc.,etc., just about all buildings. Nothing to do with race. Just respect. You have the right to express yourself, but let's not use the FLAG as the weapon. I'm not a NASCAR fan, but it looks like they understand. Maybe they can teach the STAND for the FLAG and KNEEL for the CROSS project--may actually create change. Thanks all for letting me vent.
THat is one clickbaity headline on the stuff Atlanta Dan posted.
After actually reading the article, Tomlin didn't seem to have a problem with it. In fact, based solely on those qoutes, Deebo had more of a problem with it.
Can you imagine what would happen around here if James Harrison knelt during an anthem? What if he was wearing a Lambert throwback?
So if we look at some actual honest and transparent reporting and not some sensationalized tweets and out of context quotes, the whole thing seems to be fairly easy to understand and not that big of a deal.
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/09...ootball-games/
Players voted between two options. The option to stay in the tunnel to avoid the appearance of a split team was narrowly approved. AV was always going to be set apart from any decision the team made. The other 52 players understand and accept that. It appears that AV understands and accepts that. It is almost like 5 dozen guys talked it out and came up with a compromise (flawed perhaps) that allowed them to move on with their work.
"According to Klinger, it was understood that Alejandro Villanueva would be an accepted exception regardless of what decision was made. “Al was cool with it, with whatever we went through”, Chris Hubbard said. “He was on board”."
I always find it curios how all the uproar for players kneeling for the anthem or raising a fist in protest, yet apparently its OK to hold the flag and text during the anthem.
Or fly the flag in the rain. Or at night with no lighting. Or make flag clothes, costumes, swimsuits, bedsheets, etc. All of these and displaying the flag horizontally are against the US Flag Code. Obviously not all of this is on the same level, but it seems both sides of the issue are picking and choosing information to fan the flames.