Alejandro Villanueva says he does not want to be used to push any national anthem agenda

Alejandro Villanueva stood alone for the national anthem last week while the rest of his Steelers teammates remained in the tunnel. Now Villanueva wants the media to stop using him to push a narrative about protests during the national anthem.

”To wake up in the morning and see the face of Coach (Mike) Tomlin and the face of a soldier pitted against each other is completely unacceptable from the media,” Villanueva said, via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “To use me as a tool to push agendas and to push message is completely unacceptable.”

Villanueva is a former Army Ranger who did three tours in Afghanistan. President Donald Trump made comments last week about protests during the anthem, referring to any player who kneels as a “son of a bitch” and saying team owners should fire them for it. NFL teams around the league responded with various displays of unity.

The Steelers opted to stay in the tunnel and off the field during the national anthem before their Week 3 matchup against the Bears. Tomlin said that the purpose was to keep the team’s focus on football and to avoid division inside the locker room. But Villanueva wanted to stand for the anthem, and he discussed his perspective with team captains.

The decision was made that Villanueva would be joined just outside the tunnel by team captains, including Ben Roethlisberger. Then logistics got in the way, and a miscommunication kept it from happening.

“Al didn’t know that we weren’t there,” Roethlisberger said. “Al thought we were standing there. There was no division there ... I wish today that we would have continued down.”

Villanueva said he was “embarrassed” by the photo of him standing alone for the anthem.

”I made Coach Tomlin look bad, and that is my fault and my fault only,” Villanueva said. “I made my teammates look bad, and that is my fault and my fault only.”

The anthem and the flag carry special meaning for Villanueva, especially because of his military service. But he respects his teammates’ perspectives if they do choose to protest during the national anthem.

“Nobody thinks that when you’re taking a knee, you’re offending the flag ... and I don’t think anybody that’s standing for the flag is not respecting the fact that there are a lot of injustices and racial divides in our country,” Villanueva said.

Sales of Villanueva’s jersey skyrocketed after the image of him standing solo for the anthem last week went viral. His name will continue to come up in the ongoing discussion about protests during the anthem, even though he wants it to stop.