The Pittsburgh Steelers offered a clever unified rebuke of Trump’s attempts to divide the country by skipping the national anthem.
Video of Head Coach Mike Tomlin saying that he won’t let divisive persons or politics divide his team:
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin reveals to @JamieErdahl that the team will not be participating in today's national anthem. pic.twitter.com/5zihPWQsMv
— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) September 24, 2017
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Tomlin said, “You know, these are very divisive times for our country, and you know, for us as a football team, it’s about us remaining solid. We’re not going to be divided by anything said by anyone, and I that’s the thing I posted to our guys, I said if you feel the need to do anything, I’m going to be supportive of that. As Americans, you have that right, but whatever we do, we’re going to do one hundred percent, we’re going to do together. We’re not going to let divisive times or divisive individuals affect our agenda.”
Tomlin continued later, “We’re not participating in the anthem today, not to be disrespectful to the anthem to remove ourselves from the circumstance. People shouldn’t have to choose. If a guy wants to go about his normal business and participate in the anthem, he shouldn’t be forced to choose sides. If a guy feels a need to do something, he shouldn’t be separated from his teammate who chooses not to, so we’re not participating, that’s our decision.”
The Steelers’ solution was a clever rebuke of Trump’s tactics. Trump is trying to divide America at every level, so by standing together in not participating in the anthem, the Steelers aren’t playing along with the Trumpian construct that you either participate in the anthem, or you hate America.
Trump wants to turn teammate against teammate, family member against family member, and American against American. When a president is as unpopular as Trump is, division is their only path to reelection.
The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t playing along, and won’t allow themselves to be divided. If more Americans took the approach that we do things together in the face of conflict, Trump would be an even bigger failure.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
