NFL player covered the name of a shooting victim on helmet. Here’s the team’s response
For the entire 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to wear the name Antwon Rose Jr. on the back of their helmets — except for one player.
Offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva opted out of having Rose, a Black teenager who was killed by Pittsburgh police in 2018, on his helmet Monday night against the New York Giants. Instead, he chose the name of fallen Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe, who died in 2005 as he was attempting to rescue fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle in Samarra, Iraq.
On Thursday, Steelers president Art Rooney II released a statement on Twitter.
Villanueva, a former Army Ranger, apologized to his teammates for catching them off guard with the move, which reportedly upset Rose’s mother, who made a statement in a Facebook post.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers took a team vote. Obviously, one person didn’t like the results, so they chose to do something different,” Michelle Kenney wrote on Facebook, according to CBS.
“I have nothing against vets and absolutely appreciate everything that they have done and continue to do for us. But this one person showed us exactly who he is and obviously he didn’t approve of how the vote turned out.”