Steelers’ Center: We expect all Steelers players will stand for anthem Sunday

by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton | September 27, 2017 5:29 pm

According to center Maurkice Pouncy, the entire Pittsburgh Steelers team plans to stand for the National Anthem on Sunday at Baltimore. We’ll see. I believe that Pouncy thinks that is the case, but not all of his teammates do. “I care about the flag dearly,” Pouncey said. “Trust me, this team will be out there standing.” He was asked about full participation and said, “As I know it, it’s 100 percent. We love this country,” Pouncey continued. “This is America. Yes, we know there are injustices in this world. For me personally, football is for football; that’s what we’ll approach it as.” Again, I believe him, but this smacks of desperation after the boondoggle of last weekend.

The Steelers actually wrote a letter[1] to their fans trying to explain themselves. It’s serious damage control. But I’m not sure their fan base will buy excuses now. What’s more, one source says the Steelers players are still discussing kneeling on Sunday and no one knows for sure what will happen. Coach Mike Tomlin made a huge deal of keeping the team off the field last Sunday during the anthem and it was interpreted as a protest. The fans were furious.

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Defensive end Cameron Heyward referenced Pouncey’s comments, “Getting ready for the game Sunday, that’s it — honor our flag, pay tribute, move forward.” Seems to me they know they stepped in it. The team wants to “make it right,” Pouncey added. They are one of the few teams that seem to realize they are courting an extinction-level event in all this. Pouncey is saying that the team does not want to engage in political statements. I agree, but they already did. Their players should not have knelt and disrespected the flag, America, the military, the police and first responders in the first place. It pays homage to Black Lives Matter, which is a radical, militant domestic terror group.

“I hate that the media and everyone else tries to put politics in this stuff,” Pouncey said. “Trust me, this team loves this flag, we love what we represent, Al and this whole organization, Mr. Rooney. We feel just as bad as everybody else does because there’s a lot on our shoulders. … I honestly think we’ll come together and this will be totally out the window.” I hope he’s right for their sake, but that doesn’t cover the rest of the NFL. Linebacker Arthur Moats said standing for the anthem is “what I’ve been doing my whole life,” but he wouldn’t speak on whether the rest of the team has the same feeling. “We saw what happened last week, so I’m done speaking on everybody else,” Moats said. I don’t blame him.

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America will be watching this weekend to see if they all stand for the National Anthem. In fact, the whole NFL will be scrutinized. Whether they commit suicide as a league is up to them. Me, I’m not holding my breath over it and I’m still done with them.

Endnotes:
  1. wrote a letter: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/top-news/steelers-owner-sends-desperate-letter-fans-teams-national-anthem-protest/
  2. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Steelers.jpg
  3. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Stellers1-e1506546632604.jpg

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