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Steelers defensive linemen Cam Heyward and Tyson Alualu talk during practice Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
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Protests will happen in the NFL, and the Steelers want to participate without controversy

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Protests will happen in the NFL, and the Steelers want to participate without controversy

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is encouraging teams to sign former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick this summer, four years after he was effectively blackballed from the league for kneeling in protest during the national anthem.

It remains to be seen if an owner takes Goodell’s advice, but Steelers captain Cam Heyward is confident Kaepernick’s message will be heard one way or another when the NFL season kicks off in September.

Kaepernick knelt to bring attention to police brutality in the country in 2016 — an issue that is gripping the nation again this year after the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, among others.

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Heyward didn’t disclose any plans the Steelers have to show solidarity with the social justice movement, but he knows players are in a better position to be heard this year due to the seismic shift in the social climate after the recent killings.

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“No one really paid attention to the issues Colin Kapernick was talking about [in 2016],” Heyward said. “They were mostly concerned with what he was doing rather than his message. I think this time around you see the evidence. You see what he was talking about. He wasn’t just blowing smoke. These are real issues that really affect our communities.

“This is a chance for a lot of guys to speak up. We all have different backgrounds. We all have seen these tragedies happen. It’s got to stop. I can only speak as a Black man. These issues hit home because my family is going to have to deal with them for the rest of their lives.”

The Steelers unwittingly became embroiled in the anthem controversy in September of 2017. Players across the league continued to kneel during the anthem, and the Steelers had to decide how they were going to handle the issue as a team before a road game in Chicago.

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It was decided that the team would stay off the field during the anthem at a team meeting the night before the game. After the meeting, Steelers offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who saw two tours of duty in Afghanistan, received messages from wounded veterans who implored him to stand when the anthem was played.

Unbeknownst to most of his teammates, Villanueva went to Heyward and the other captains for a solution to the problem. Ben Roethlisberger devised a plan where Villanueva would stand with the captains in the tunnel that leads out to the field, but they were separated by a flurry of pregame activities just before the anthem was performed.

The end result was Villanueva standing on the field by himself with the rest of his teammates outside the locker room. The visual cast the Steelers as a team divided, and players said the distraction had an adverse affect on their play that day in a 23-17 loss to the Bears.

“The thing that ticks me off about that is what we were trying to do is remain out of the spotlight, and it got turned upside down,” Heyward said. “To know we were looked at as leaving one of our brothers out, leaving Al out to dry, when really we got separated by a Play 60 flag that was coming through. By the time the national anthem started, we were separated. It was never meant for us to toss aside a player.”

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Villanueva, for his part, apologized to coach Mike Tomlin and his teammates. Roethlisberger said after the game the Steelers should have been on the field as a team when the anthem was performed.

Steelers captains know this year the will be in the spotlight again and face this question as the season approaches: Can they successfully use their platforms to bring about positive change in the country without being at the center of the controversy? 

Players such as Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray have already said they will kneel during the national anthem. Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he would kneel alongside his players if they decide to protest.

The Steelers only have said their goal is to bring positivity to the social climate, and Heyward believes the time is right for professional athletes to help bring about change.

As a team captain, Heyward will have a role in shaping how the Steelers go about making that happen.

“A captain’s role is just listening and letting guys voice their opinion,” he said. “If I’m the captain and I think I have every answer, then that’s poor by me. We have a lot of different views. Guys come from different backgrounds. All I can speak to is my own background and how I’ve grown up. With what’s going on now, a lot of guys have had the opportunity to speak. And whether you’re the last man or the first man I feel like you have a chance to speak.

“We’re living in a climate where guys need to know they have a platform and they should be able to voice their opinion. It’s not for one guy to decide. It’s not for two guys to decide. This is a team. This is a team that has their own interests at heart.”

Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.

First Published: June 19, 2020, 12:38 p.m.

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Steelers defensive linemen Cam Heyward and Tyson Alualu talk during practice Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.  (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
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