When his team was unable to come to an agreement on what it would do to protest the National Anthem before their game in Chicago Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin ordered his players to leave the field for the song and stand in the tunnel out of the sight of the crowd. But one player did come back out for the Anthem: offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva.
Villanueva’s path to the NFL is different from pretty much every other player. His parents are from Spain. He was born on a US Navy base in Mississippi–while his father was stationed there with NATO. When the family moved back to Europe, Villanueva went to high school at a facility operated by the US Army–and when he graduated he was accepted to the US Military Academy in West Point–where he played football as a receiver, a defensive lineman and along the offensive line during his career.
After graduating from West Point, Villanueva completed Airborne training–at 6-feet, nine-inches tall–and became an Army Ranger. He served three tours of duty in Afghanistan. In August of 2011 while leading his unit on an assignment to protect Afghan civilians from retribution and attacks by the Taliban, Villanueva and his men were ambushed by Taliban fighters. In the firefight, three men were seriously injured. Villanueva–still under fire from the enemy–got those men back to safety. Two of the soldiers survived–but Private First Class Jesse Dietrich died after Villanueva carried him on his shoulders to a rescue helicopter. For his actions, Villanueva was presented with the Bronze Star for heroic and meritorious achievement along with a “V” device for outstanding valor.
After completing his military commitment, Villanueva tried out for a couple of NFL teams before spending a training camp with the Eagles–but was cut during the pre-season. That’s when the Steelers picked him up, converted him to offensive line and he became a starter in 2015.
In a statement after the game yesterday, Villanueva pointed out that things are not perfect in the United States–but that having athletes making millions of dollars sitting or kneeling for the National Anthem will not fix the problems–and that people dying overseas to protect that right are making less than $20,000. He wrapped up his statement by saying that he is “…very thankful to be an American. I will stand proudly and sing every single line of the National Anthem every single time I hear it. I will stop whatever I’m doing because I recognize I have to be very thankful to be in this country.”
I have to believe that Alejandro Villanueva thinks about Private First Class Jesse Dietrich every time he hears the Anthem and places his hand over his heart as well. We all know why so many players chose to take a knee yesterday or stayed in the locker room during the Anthem. I just thought you should know why some did not.
