Alejandro Villanueva jersey ranks sixth in NFL shop

Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Alejandro Villanueva saw an increase in his jersey sales after Sunday’s game.

Sunday was a very interesting day in the NFL. It started with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens uniting in protest against U.S. President Donald Trump. There were many protests in every game played on Sunday, but one notably situation was in Chicago.

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced they would not leave the locker room for the national anthem, but that didn’t stop Alejandro Villanueva.

The former Army Ranger left the locker room before the national anthem and stood in the tunnel for the song. Many people around the nation took notice for the former army member and bought his jersey.

Villanueva saw his jersey reach the top six in sales in the NFL in the last 24 hours, behind Marshawn Lynch, a custom Patriots jersey, Carson Wentz, Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers.

Protesting the national anthem is something that is controversial in America, with some agreeing or respecting the right for anyone to do it as it is their first amendment right, the other half sees it as disrespectful to the military, and our veterans. There have even been veterans who supported the movement and respect the right the people have.

An interesting side of Villanueva standing for the national anthem is what head coach Mike Tomlin had to say after the game, saying he was looking for “100 percent participation” whatever the team decided to do before the game on Sunday. When someone asked Tomlin about Villanueva coming out for the anthem, Tomlin reassured his stance saying “Like I said, I was looking for 100 percent participation, we were gonna be respectful of our football team.”

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Pittsburgh lost to Chicago in the end and they look to rebound against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Oct. 1.