Looks like somebody DIDN’T get Richard Sherman‘s memo from yesterday that said NFL players would not be bullied by Donald Trump. In fact, those words came out of his mouth.
In any event, the Pittsburgh Steelers declared there would be no more kneeling on the sidelines during the national anthem. The decision came as the team continues to receive criticism from mostly outraged white males over BLACK players choosing not to recite the anthem last weekend.
Offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva was the only Steelers player to stand alone outside the tunnel during the playing of the anthem.
After the game, furious fans posted videos of themselves burning Steelers gear and season tickets.
Following the backlash, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey says the team will stand this Sunday.
“I promise you one thing, this week we will all be standing out there for the national anthem. Trust me,” Pouncey said Wednesday.
Pouncey says he expects the entire team to be on the field for the anthem.
“As far as I know it’s 100 percent participation,” Pouncey told reporters. “We love this country. It’s America. We know there are injustice in this world, but to me, personally, football is football and that’s what we need to approach it as.”
“Pittsburgh Steelers will go out there and do the right thing,” Pouncey told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Denver Broncos ball club also said they plan to stand during the anthem on Sunday.
“We’re a team and we stand together — no matter how divisive some comments and issues can be, nothing should ever get in the way of that,” the team said in a statement on Instagram. “Starting Sunday, we will be standing together.”
In related news, Spike Lee defended Colin Kaepernick during a heated debate with former New York Jets star Michel Faulkner, during a CNN Town Hall on the protests sweeping the NFL.
On Wednesday night, the 60-year-old director delivered a passionate case for Colin — comparing him to Jackie Robinson and posing a challenge to team owners.
“Branch Rickey made the decision ‘We’re going to hire Jackie Robinson.’ Nobody else wanted him,” Lee said, in objection to the notion that siding with fans who are against the protest is a business decision. “Which NFL owner’s gonna be the Branch Rickey of today, that is the question. Which NFL owner’s gonna be the Branch Rickey and give Colin Kaepernick a job?”
Faulkner noted that while Kaepernick may no longer be working in the NFL, he did take on a job when he opted to be an activist over an athlete.
Do you agree?
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(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
