Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, one of the longest tenured players on the Steelers roster, said there won't be any suspense Sunday afternoon when the Steelers take the field for the national anthem in Baltimore. He said he is confident the Steelers will have 100 percent participation of players standing.
"I promise you one thing this week _ we'll all be standing out there for the national anthem," Pouncey said after practice Wednesday. "Trust me. We respect our flag and we respect the military. I think the bigger message was we were trying to stay out of it. That we should united inside. It was all about the flag. It was just a big misunderstanding. Trust me, I'm very sorry to anyone who feels the way they do. I care about the flag dearly. Trust me, this team will be out there standing Sunday."
The Steelers have come under fire for remaining in the tunnel just outside their locker room in Chicago's Soldier Field last Sunday. The only Steelers player on the field was former Army Ranger Alejandro Villanueva.
When Pouncey was asked again if he was confident in 100 percent participation he said: "As far I know it's 100 percent. We're going to go out there as the Pittsburgh Steelers. If not, you'll have something to talk about. As far as I know everyone on the Pittsburgh Steelers will go out there.
"We're going to go out there and do the right thing. If someone decides not to, then they'll have to answer to that. I'm telling you the Pittsburgh Steelers will go out there and do the right thing."
Steelers captains Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward said Monday the Steelers would be on the field for the anthem in Baltimore, but Pouncey was the first member of the team to say all players would stand.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the reason the Steelers stayed in the tunnel in Chicago was because some players probably would have knelt during the anthem, and he wanted the Steelers to be united in what they did.
Heyward did not go as far as Pouncey did on Wednesday when he was asked about the team's plans for Sunday.
"Everybody is going to be out there," Heyward said. "I don't know what's going through everyone's head. I can't answer for everyone right now, but everyone is going to be out there. We're focused on beating Baltimore and we'll pay tribute to our flag."
Pouncey became emotional when talking about the team's decision in Chicago. With Villanueva seated a few feet from him, Pouncey apologized to Steelers fans.
"Trust me, we felt just as bad," Pouncey said. "We have to make it right. I honestly think we will go out there and make it right. Our commander in chief said one thing and people really took it overboard, and rightfully so, because people have opinions. That's what America is about. So we can have opinions. But we're here to play football. We're not here to play politics.
"We love this country. This is America. Yeah, we know there is injustice in this world. But for me personally, football is for football, and that's how we have to approach it. I tell a lot of the guys if you want to do anything in the offseason or on Tuesdays, Team Pouncey will be there with you. We'll help you and do whatever you want. But we're football players.
"I hate that the media tries to put politics in this and all this different stuff. Trust me, this team loves this flag. We love how we represent Al. We feel just as bad as everyone else does. Trust me, we do. This week, we'll show that. We're sorry for all of our fans who are upset about the things that went down. I honestly think we'll come together and this will be all out the window."
