Alejandro Villanueva apologizes for honoring his nation, flag, and national anthem - looks like he's in a hostage video

Well, that didn't take long. We now live in a country where a former Army Ranger - a veteran of three tours in Afghanistan and a bronze star recipient - feels he must apologize for standing and singing our national anthem. Let's be clear: He's apologizing for not being disrespectful of the nation for which he fought.

Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva says he 'made a mistake' standing for national anthem without his team. https://t.co/n1JGNtk4dx pic.twitter.com/B2G10EkL33

— ABC News (@ABC) September 25, 2017

His teammates, coach, and owner should be apologizing to him for allowing the rest of the Steelers to treat him with such incredible disrespect

This is disturbing not just because he looks like a guy in a hostage video who's letting everyone know his captors "are treating him well," but because he shouldn't be apologizing for anything. His teammates, coach, and owner should be apologizing to him for allowing the rest of the Steelers to treat him with such incredible disrespect. What this man has done in service to his nation absolutely dwarfs the meager achievements of everyone to whom he's apologizing. I'll be honest. I don't know if he wanted to do this, or if the organization forced him to do it, and it doesn't really matter. If he was made to feel this was the right course of action - either through guilt or coercion to protect his career - it's a damn shame. If I was sick of the NFL's B.S. yesterday, I'm ten times as sick of it now.

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