“Athlete Activism” is always a touchy category for people to discuss. Everyone has their own ideals of what is right and what is wrong. I am a firm believer that sports need to keep politics, no matter what side, out of the game, because that is what people forget they’re watching: A Game. Sports are supposed to be an escape from real-world issues, and are essentially a leisure activity for people to watch. With that being said, there was one moment in 2017 that I believe most would agree, was an awesome stand by a former Navy Tight End. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The year was 2017, a time when individuals were torn between standing or kneeling for the national anthem. The year prior, former 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem, in protest to police brutality, which started a league-wide conversation, which led to players either kneeling, standing, or teams remaining in their locker rooms, to give players privacy in their choice. Not Alejandro Villanueva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Villanueva spent his collegiate years at Army, playing Tight End before switching to Offensive Tackle in the NFL. As you may know, Army, Navy, and Air Force athletes must serve their four-year commitment before they can have the opportunity to play professionally. Villanueva served his commitment, then tried out for the Ravens, before ultimately signing with the Steelers. During the 2017 game against the Bears, the Army grad decided to be the only Steeler to stand outside during the national anthem, honoring the flag that he fought hard to protect, and honoring the anthem. In return, Villanuevas jeresy became the highest-selling jersey across the entire NFL. Alejandro would go on to 8 years in the NFL, making 2 Pro Bowls, and mulitple playoff appearances, but this became a defining moment of his NFL career. Although some players and coaches alike disagreed and questioned his dicission, fans loved his choice, with him becoming a ficture of pride amongst active and retired military. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No matter where he stood politically, who he voted for, or what religion he practiced, Villanueva did agrue, didn’t shame anyone, but showed respect for the anthem of the country he protected. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Athlete Activism” is always a touchy category for people to discuss. Everyone has their own ideals of what is right and what is wrong. I am a firm believer that sports need to keep politics, no matter what side, out… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32062,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32062"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/aaronbirchmeiersports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}