Steelers player: I ‘unintentionally’ made my team look bad by appearing for anthem

The only Pittsburgh Steelers player who came out of the locker room for the national anthem during the team’s game Sunday said he “unintentionally” made his teammates look bad.

Alejandro Villanueva said he “made my teammates look bad, and that is my fault only,” according to a local Pittsburgh CBS affiliate.

Villanueva’s appearance at the anthem went viral Sunday after the rest of the team stayed in the locker room, in what was later said to be an attempt to avoid the controversy — fueled by President Trump’s remarks at a rally Friday — over players who kneel during the anthem as a form of protest over racial injustice. 

{mosads}Villanueva said that he had asked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger if he could stand with the captains in front of the team during the anthem, and that he turned back to look at this teammates as the anthem started.

“Every single time I see that picture of me standing by myself I feel embarrassed,” Villanueva said.

He added that he is fine with players that sit or kneel during the national anthem but that he has “nothing to comment about what the president says.”

“We as a team tried to figure it out, obviously we butchered it, I’m not gonna pretend I have some kind of righteous voice,” Villanueva said.

Jersey sales for Villanueva soared after the former Army ranger was pictured as the sole member of his team on the field during the anthem. 

Roethlisberger said Monday that he wished the team had been on the field during the anthem.