The only Steeler to stand for the national anthem, Alejandro Villanueva, a former US Army Ranger.
Alejandro Villanueva was the lone Pittsburgh Steelers player who appeared on the pitch and sang while the rest of his team remained in the locker room as part of a silent protest that’s sweeping the country’s football pitches. The player, who has served in Afghanistan, has become a simple of patriotism — and now sales of his jersey have gone through the roof. It jumped the Steelers jersey sellers league on Fanatics.com, and now stands at one of the top sellers for the entire league, behind Carson Wentz and Aaron Rodgers.
This will not end well for the NFL. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the Week 3 TV ratings play out. Based on the hints from things such as Villanueva’s jersey sales, I would guess we’ll see a decline of 20 percent or more.