.......Steelers coach Mike Tomlin rap Alejandro Villanueva, while his jersey sales soar

Welp the steelers have well and truly stepped in it, here is a young combat veteran who did as he felt was either agreed upon or felt was right, and now if they punish him they risk alienating their fan base in a serious way.

ETA: please note Steeler fans are in large part very blue collar worker types, some things you do not do.

If they do not punish him, they risk alienating players on the team.

The truth is completely irrelevant at this point, any punishment no matter the reason will be seen by some as punishment for standing for the anthem and presentation of the colors.

I have a lot of family from Pittsburgh that are die hard Steeler fans that are irate over the protest, some have already decided to forgo watching anymore, and with the tap dancing going on by the team (Tomlin pissed at AV, and big ben tap dancing backwards, the owner supporting the protesters but appearing to leave people like AV to twist in the wind) I expect more will walk away from the team.

The Steelers in NO way should punish him.. that would be ridiculous. As stated.. it's his right to stand during the anthem, in the same was others have the right to kneel. The Steelers would be moronic to make anything out of it.. and in fact, should make a statement they completely support him as well. Steelers = stupid otherwise.

a reply to: Irishhaf

I have heard similar claims.

I have been listening to sports radio on Pittsburgh.

Is funny how most of the radio host are so smug and talk down to those that are saying they are disgusted by the Steelers actions.

I think the NFL and Steelers may truly lose a decent amount of fans over this.

a reply to: Grambler

I think the NFL and Steelers may truly lose a decent amount of fans over this.

I agree.
Fined over the wrong socks.
Fined over the wrong shoes.
Fined over writing on a towel.
Fined for the wrong celebration.
Not fined for kneeling during the national anthem.

Hmmm which one does not belong?

a reply to: Grambler

It might be silly of me...

but I think the biggest problem is the disconnect between players today, versus the players in the past, they are to rich.

They used to live among the fans (unless you were the face of the franchise) so they saw them every day, where now a days they live in mansions with an entourage and rarely ever actually interact with the fans beyond autograph signings.

They are just ignorant of the way the regular fan thinks or lives, when you move up the chain of command GM's owners etc, the problem gets worse.

a reply to: Grambler

You see a huge drop in 18-30 year olds?

You guys are funny.

originally posted by: Grambler

I think the NFL and Steelers may truly lose a decent amount of fans over this.

I seriously doubt it. The nature of social media allows one to say whatever they want without question or proof. They may say online, "Screw X..." and then hunker down Thurs. Sun or Mon. for their football fix.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: Grambler

It might be silly of me...

but I think the biggest problem is the disconnect between players today, versus the players in the past, they are to rich.

They used to live among the fans (unless you were the face of the franchise) so they saw them every day, where now a days they live in mansions with an entourage and rarely ever actually interact with the fans beyond autograph signings.

They are just ignorant of the way the regular fan thinks or lives, when you move up the chain of command GM's owners etc, the problem gets worse.

Half of these guys came from the ghetto and made something of themselves with hard work.

So much for conservative values.

How about whine about the rich.

a reply to: luthier

My grandfather ran into Terry Bradshaw one night at a bar and drank with the guy, My aunt years later ran into the QB (name escapes me)for the steelers who helped her get fair value for her super bowl tickets.

There is a barrier between regular people and most football players today, that was not there in the past, or not as apparent in the past.

But hey you do you and keep up with the passive aggressive attacks I guess.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Well I got a scholarship to go to college and wrestle at ncaa division one school, and currently work with those athletes.

I can tell you their is a disconnect in society in general that was never there.

One where a coservative makes fun of a person who pulled themselves out of the ghetto with hard work to become a millionaire.

a reply to: luthier

Where did I make fun of them?

Please enlighten me...

a reply to: Irishhaf

How out of touch are they? Is it your perception?

Were they raised millionaires?

Or does the media and society worship them and it has nothing to do with them as people.

a reply to: luthier

So you think rich people do not live a different lives from blue collar workers, I guarantee none of those players in Pittsburgh live in the row houses.

Kind of like how trump gave the impression he understands what the regular folks want, when he has no clue.

Also just because you grew up in the hood does not mean your personal experience is still current 5, 10-15 years later.

Lastly... how is saying someone is out of touch making fun of them?

a reply to: Irishhaf

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long will be donating his first six game checks of the season to his home town of Charlottesville, Virginia to help fund scholarships for local students.

Jordan Matthews and Carson Wentz boarded a flight last Friday morning in Miami that was to last just over two hours. But the flight landed them in a destination another world from the life they knew. The quarterback-wide receiver duo embarked on a weekend-long mission to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to serve people who seemed in need of nothing short of a miracle. The country of nearly 11 million people has been ravaged by one natural disaster after another


"Shortly after the start of the 2017 NFL season," a video on the Eagles website announces, "Malcolm Jenkins, Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith invited Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to meet with police, grassroots organizations, policy leaders and public defenders in Philadelphia. The group, along with Rodney McLeod and Chris Long, met to get a better understanding of the complexities of the criminal justice reform work that many of the players have been conducting over the past year to strengthen the community."

a reply to: luthier

Yea and Tim Tebow when he was in the NFL he routinely did things like that.. Warrick Dunn would buy houses for single mothers because of what happened to his own mother.

So congratulations, you proved something I was not asking you to, I never felt that 100% of the players were out of touch.. just like 100% of the players are not protesting.

My point still stands, their is a disconnect between players and regular fans, separated by security, agents, and other entourage members.

Still waiting to see how I made fun of them?

originally posted by: luthier
a reply to: Grambler

You see a huge drop in 18-30 year olds?

You guys are funny.

I guess we will see.

I am certainly not clairvoyant, but I would not be surprised if there is a large ratings drop

a reply to: Irishhaf

Lol. I picked one team. Happens to be the one I was born into being from Philadelphia. Also went to Penn State.

I think you assume far to much. A lot of players probably the majority do charity work even of required by the teams. They are costantly meeting with fans and society cleaning up parks, kids football...

I think America is generally out of touch and shallow. But I am cynical.

The last excerpt. Malcom Jenkins is protesting criminal injustice. He literally goes to capital hill, meets with police etc...


The kneeling not kneeling is a minor detail. I don't know many great leaders who would try and get a self thinking person to focus on the symbol over the meaning. Even prophets and messiah warn of the dangers of idols. Making an object more important than human beings or the meaning.

Maybe you are not making fun of these "millionaires" bit it sure seems like you may have a disconnect from how they live.

a reply to: Grambler

Would you be surprised if it was less than 10 percent?

Do you think they ran an algorithm like they do for other things?

originally posted by: luthier
a reply to: Grambler

Would you be surprised if it was less than 10 percent?

Do you think they ran an algorithm like they do for other things?

Even five percent is a lot of people.

I honestly don't know what to expect.

I love in a very rural area, so my observations are very skewed and limited.

a reply to: Grambler

Would it be more if they bowed down to trump?

Have you thought of this.

Until trump said something I personally thought it was a dumb protest. I just wasn't hysterical over the flag. Maybe because I was raised Christian where we are supposed to not worship symbols in fear of losing the meaning.

However trump weighing in makes me fully support protesting a president over stepping his bounds and power and influence over a private business.