Lone Steeler to appear for anthem says he meant to stand in tunnel.
When Alejandro Villanueva, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting left tackle, arrived at West Point for cadet basic training in the summer of 2006, he already stood out — and not just because he was bigger than anyone else.
“He was never in trouble, and he always seemed to be doing better than everyone else,” said Capt. Daniel Harrison, who, three years ahead of Villanueva, was his company commander during part of that summer’s basic training.
Villanueva, now 29, starred at West Point, where he started at left tackle every game in 2008 but played as a receiver in 2009, leading the team in catches and receiving yards.
Now, Villanueva has one more bit of fame: He was the only member of the Steelers to walk out of the tunnel during the playing of the national anthem before Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. He held his hand over his heart while the song played. His teammates remained several feet behind him, just inside the tunnel — notably not on the field, in protest of President Donald Trump and his comments about the NFL.
Villanueva, a 6-foot-8, 320-pound lineman who was born in Mississippi but is the son of a Spanish naval officer, did not speak with the news media after Sunday’s game.
But as his anthem appearance became the subject of heated debate on Monday, he spoke to reporters in Pittsburgh and said that he had inadvertently gotten separated from his team.
He said he had intended to stand at the end of the tunnel where no one would see him, and watch from there as the anthem was played. But once he realized he was visibly outside, he decided he could not turn around and go back to where his teammates were standing, a few feet inside the tunnel.
“I never planned to boycott the plan that the Steelers came up with,” he said. “I just thought that there could be some middle ground where I could stay in the tunnel, nobody would see me.”
In past interviews, Villanueva has expressed solidarity with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s sideline protests over racism toward African-Americans. But he has also previously questioned whether Kaepernick’s approach inadvertently suggested a lack of appreciation for service members whose sacrifices have made such protests possible.
“Nobody thinks that when you’re taking a knee, you’re offending the flag,” he said. Similarly, he said, “I don’t think anyone standing for the flag is not respecting the fact that there is a lot of injustices and racial divide in our country.”
As for his own choice going forward, he said, “I’m going to stand up for the national anthem.”
A major regret for Villanueva was the fact that his actions made his teammates and his coach look bad as they scrambled to explain why he was the only player visible.
“Unfortunately, I threw them under the bus unintentionally,” he said. “Every single time I see that picture of me standing by myself, I feel embarrassed.”