I agree with Mike Tomlin: The name of the game is football - not politics. I served ten years in the military, and I can understand both sides of this political issue. But in reality both sides are on the "same side" here. Those of us in the military served to protect, among many American freedoms, the right of protest. The Steelers were not protesting the flag or the anthem. They were protesting social issues, which our country has a long and proud history of doing. And as for all those who claim that their days of following the Steelers are over, why are they wasting their time reading articles about the Steelers and making comments on these websites?
joe fugo - 6 years ago
i dont stand for the national anthem !! where was the anthem when us vietnam veterans came home. plus your great ( ? ) government sprayed us with angent orange ! i hope soon veterans do the same ! maybe it will wake this country up about how veterans get bad healthcare and have to wait for years to get compensation that is due to them. i support every player that wont stand !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ava - 6 years ago
So tired of folk yelling disrespect about a flag but will not open their mouths when human life is diarespected every day. Same ones sitting on the butt when the anthem is played, slurping beer or alrwady drunk yet if they saw my son they would see a black man (subjected to racist acts) instead of seeing a Marine. The audacity...... do something to reduce police brutality against citizens and maybe then no one will take a knee. If you're not doing anything to improve living conditions for all then maybe you're disrespecting humanity.
Jon - 6 years ago
To those that keep saying it is a peaceful protest and has nothing to do with the flag, the act of doing it during the National Anthem was meant to create controversy. Using the playing of the Star Spangled Banner was an intentional because if you remember, when the Kaepernick started the protest, it was because a specific verse in the original song referenced slaves. It has morphed into something completely devoid of what its original intent was. It people want to believe symbols of our country were not selected intentionally, to create maximum outrage, then they are being naive.
This poll would matter ONLY I the comment that some Steelers players took a knee during the anthem in Chicago. THAT is as outrageous a lie as was the Photoshopping blacking out the Steelers standing in the tunnel behind AV. By the way, I am friends with high ranking retired military...who say that although they don't like the disrespecting of the flag during the anthem, they served to protect ALL Americans....not just the ones who agree with them. If you can actually SHOW proof that ANY STEELER has taken a knee during the anthem this season, I will probably grow very old and die. The writer of this article needs to stop using these players as a political football to create controversy. One only has to watch the team videos after the Bears game....even Villenueva told the media his service wouldn't be used as a tool to create more controversy. I'm waiting for GENUINE proof. I certainly will NOT hold my breath! In addition, I served in the AF, my son as well and another son a Marine. My father in law was in the second wave at Normandy Beach, my father hit in the stomach by shrapnel in Sicily in WW 2...earning him the Purple Heart. My brother served in the Navy, I have a nephew heading to Guam and one in a nuclear sub. My brother in law was a sniper in VietNam, and I have family documented in conflicts as early as the Civil War. I wonder how many objecting to this disrespect made a fuss to the NFL from day one...how many of you went to games and didn't stop when in concession lines and the anthem was playing. How many actually KNOW THE WORDS to the National Anthem. How many have done more besides voting to keep our country from getting into the debacle the past 2 presidents have made of this country. How many marched on DC peacefully?
Ron Sliga - 6 years ago
62 yr old, born and bred Yinzer and retired military here! Been a diehard 'Burgh fan for as long as I've been walking upright. Un-friggin-believable that the Steelers would go down this path! Cowardly NFL Commissioner should have stopped this last year! Now cowardly Rooney and Tomlin and their lame excuses are nothing less than shameful! This shameful group includes ass clown Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and every other talking sports bum! To stand in the tunnel at Soldier Field last month during the National Anthem and the continued disrespectful behavior toward our country, flag and national anthem has turned me off for good! Have not watched any Steeler nor NFL game since. I'm done. Shameful. I am so angry and sad...and glad my dear Navy vet Dad did not live to see this fiasco!
Mike Haliena - 6 years ago
Our young people in the military spend countless time and energy to serve this country on a voluntary basis and we as Americans can not spend 5 minutes to honor them, it is a disgrace.
Stephen kush - 6 years ago
They are there to play a game. The Pharisees prayed on the street corners. I am finished supporting the NFL. I played college football. My brother coached college and pro football. It is entertainment to get away from issues.
Christian Brown - 6 years ago
As a Corporal in the USMC for 4 years right out of high school (89-93) I have no issue with any of the players in any of the professional sports doing their protest during the anthem. This is a free country and we are spoiled rotten here with what we can get away with on a daily basis. No other country has as many freedoms as we do here in the US and this is one of them. FREE is FREE and most people here do not have a clue as to how lucky they are!! Racial injustice is still a huge problem in this country and it's about time that sports figures recognize just how much importance they have!! Bring more attention to this issue than ever before and do not listen to the so called patriots who tell you that you are disrespecting the flag and the country. Most of them would not last 5 minutes on "active duty" in this country's armed forces. I stand for the anthem because I am a veteran but I am also a veteran because I was willing to put my life on the line for your freedoms back home!! Exercise those freedoms!! I know that I do.
Jerome Hill - 6 years ago
I like it when folks like Bill Cox gets butthurt about matters such as this. First, they have been kneeling in the end zone forever. Second, if it is peaceful, thus as a veteran, I find no disrespect at all because the intent has nothing to do with dishonor of our nation. Disagree with them all you want. The fallen have given their lives for us to challenge any injustice (as they did in their life of service) and to bring justice to sea to shining sea. Pretty brave of them to do that actually.
Angelo - 6 years ago
I'm concerned that the creator of this poll did not know that the correct phrase is COULDN'T care less.
bill cox - 6 years ago
cannot emphasize enough how disgusted I am that people use this sports platform to protest a political
cause, The flag and anthem is the reason they are able to play this game. Keep the protests in social media. I have been avidly following the steelers since the sixty's, that will end with any form of protest, including kneeling.
bill cox
Lifelong Steeler Fan - 6 years ago
I think that it's a great compromise. Would like to see them all kneel before the anthem,
and all stand for the anthem as a sign of unity. The message has been lost.
Richard - 6 years ago
Alex why is it not acceptable to kneel and pray before walking on to the field and then go stand for the anthem??
Ethan - 6 years ago
They literally have been doing it for at least 15 years now. They all go there to pray before the game
Ethan kawecki - 6 years ago
Everyone calm down, they all go in the end zone after coming out of the tunnel, knee and pray there. They're not kneeling for whatever everyone is kneeling about. I'm disappointed in the steelers wire for not knowing this and posting this. Everyone who goes there does so in prayer and makes the sign of the cross upon leaving
alex bronson - 6 years ago
it is not acceptable please post their names so i can get rid of any thing with their names on it and also they should sit on the bench for the game steelers should get rid of them GIVE THEM AWAY
@SteelHeadlines - 6 years ago
They have every right to kneel or stand. It’s a peaceful protest and it isn’t affecting anyone negatively.
I agree with Mike Tomlin: The name of the game is football - not politics. I served ten years in the military, and I can understand both sides of this political issue. But in reality both sides are on the "same side" here. Those of us in the military served to protect, among many American freedoms, the right of protest. The Steelers were not protesting the flag or the anthem. They were protesting social issues, which our country has a long and proud history of doing. And as for all those who claim that their days of following the Steelers are over, why are they wasting their time reading articles about the Steelers and making comments on these websites?
i dont stand for the national anthem !! where was the anthem when us vietnam veterans came home. plus your great ( ? ) government sprayed us with angent orange ! i hope soon veterans do the same ! maybe it will wake this country up about how veterans get bad healthcare and have to wait for years to get compensation that is due to them. i support every player that wont stand !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So tired of folk yelling disrespect about a flag but will not open their mouths when human life is diarespected every day. Same ones sitting on the butt when the anthem is played, slurping beer or alrwady drunk yet if they saw my son they would see a black man (subjected to racist acts) instead of seeing a Marine. The audacity...... do something to reduce police brutality against citizens and maybe then no one will take a knee. If you're not doing anything to improve living conditions for all then maybe you're disrespecting humanity.
To those that keep saying it is a peaceful protest and has nothing to do with the flag, the act of doing it during the National Anthem was meant to create controversy. Using the playing of the Star Spangled Banner was an intentional because if you remember, when the Kaepernick started the protest, it was because a specific verse in the original song referenced slaves. It has morphed into something completely devoid of what its original intent was. It people want to believe symbols of our country were not selected intentionally, to create maximum outrage, then they are being naive.
PRIOR to the Anthem. Not a problem
This poll would matter ONLY I the comment that some Steelers players took a knee during the anthem in Chicago. THAT is as outrageous a lie as was the Photoshopping blacking out the Steelers standing in the tunnel behind AV. By the way, I am friends with high ranking retired military...who say that although they don't like the disrespecting of the flag during the anthem, they served to protect ALL Americans....not just the ones who agree with them. If you can actually SHOW proof that ANY STEELER has taken a knee during the anthem this season, I will probably grow very old and die. The writer of this article needs to stop using these players as a political football to create controversy. One only has to watch the team videos after the Bears game....even Villenueva told the media his service wouldn't be used as a tool to create more controversy. I'm waiting for GENUINE proof. I certainly will NOT hold my breath! In addition, I served in the AF, my son as well and another son a Marine. My father in law was in the second wave at Normandy Beach, my father hit in the stomach by shrapnel in Sicily in WW 2...earning him the Purple Heart. My brother served in the Navy, I have a nephew heading to Guam and one in a nuclear sub. My brother in law was a sniper in VietNam, and I have family documented in conflicts as early as the Civil War. I wonder how many objecting to this disrespect made a fuss to the NFL from day one...how many of you went to games and didn't stop when in concession lines and the anthem was playing. How many actually KNOW THE WORDS to the National Anthem. How many have done more besides voting to keep our country from getting into the debacle the past 2 presidents have made of this country. How many marched on DC peacefully?
62 yr old, born and bred Yinzer and retired military here! Been a diehard 'Burgh fan for as long as I've been walking upright. Un-friggin-believable that the Steelers would go down this path! Cowardly NFL Commissioner should have stopped this last year! Now cowardly Rooney and Tomlin and their lame excuses are nothing less than shameful! This shameful group includes ass clown Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and every other talking sports bum! To stand in the tunnel at Soldier Field last month during the National Anthem and the continued disrespectful behavior toward our country, flag and national anthem has turned me off for good! Have not watched any Steeler nor NFL game since. I'm done. Shameful. I am so angry and sad...and glad my dear Navy vet Dad did not live to see this fiasco!
Our young people in the military spend countless time and energy to serve this country on a voluntary basis and we as Americans can not spend 5 minutes to honor them, it is a disgrace.
They are there to play a game. The Pharisees prayed on the street corners. I am finished supporting the NFL. I played college football. My brother coached college and pro football. It is entertainment to get away from issues.
As a Corporal in the USMC for 4 years right out of high school (89-93) I have no issue with any of the players in any of the professional sports doing their protest during the anthem. This is a free country and we are spoiled rotten here with what we can get away with on a daily basis. No other country has as many freedoms as we do here in the US and this is one of them. FREE is FREE and most people here do not have a clue as to how lucky they are!! Racial injustice is still a huge problem in this country and it's about time that sports figures recognize just how much importance they have!! Bring more attention to this issue than ever before and do not listen to the so called patriots who tell you that you are disrespecting the flag and the country. Most of them would not last 5 minutes on "active duty" in this country's armed forces. I stand for the anthem because I am a veteran but I am also a veteran because I was willing to put my life on the line for your freedoms back home!! Exercise those freedoms!! I know that I do.
I like it when folks like Bill Cox gets butthurt about matters such as this. First, they have been kneeling in the end zone forever. Second, if it is peaceful, thus as a veteran, I find no disrespect at all because the intent has nothing to do with dishonor of our nation. Disagree with them all you want. The fallen have given their lives for us to challenge any injustice (as they did in their life of service) and to bring justice to sea to shining sea. Pretty brave of them to do that actually.
I'm concerned that the creator of this poll did not know that the correct phrase is COULDN'T care less.
cannot emphasize enough how disgusted I am that people use this sports platform to protest a political
cause, The flag and anthem is the reason they are able to play this game. Keep the protests in social media. I have been avidly following the steelers since the sixty's, that will end with any form of protest, including kneeling.
bill cox
I think that it's a great compromise. Would like to see them all kneel before the anthem,
and all stand for the anthem as a sign of unity. The message has been lost.
Alex why is it not acceptable to kneel and pray before walking on to the field and then go stand for the anthem??
They literally have been doing it for at least 15 years now. They all go there to pray before the game
Everyone calm down, they all go in the end zone after coming out of the tunnel, knee and pray there. They're not kneeling for whatever everyone is kneeling about. I'm disappointed in the steelers wire for not knowing this and posting this. Everyone who goes there does so in prayer and makes the sign of the cross upon leaving
it is not acceptable please post their names so i can get rid of any thing with their names on it and also they should sit on the bench for the game steelers should get rid of them GIVE THEM AWAY
They have every right to kneel or stand. It’s a peaceful protest and it isn’t affecting anyone negatively.