Tom Sestito's dad was a firefighter. His stepdad was a police officer. His grandparents and great grandparents were in the military.
Suffice to say, Sestito, the Penguins enforcer, isn't thrilled with what 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others have been doing _ sitting or kneeling for the national anthem out of protest.
"All those guys go to work, and they don't know if they're coming back home to their families," Sestito said. "I think it's pretty selfish of him to 'blanket-statement' all cops. It kind of hit home.
"I'm sure there's a lot of bad cops, but there's a lot of bad NFL players, too. There's a lot of bad hockey players. You don't 'blanket-statement' everybody. I took offense to that. I took it personal. I hope he realizes there's a lot of good cops out there."
Sestito, a native of Rome, N.Y., isn't the first Pittsburgh athlete to criticize Kaepernick and his actions. Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva, a former Army Ranger and a veteran of three tours of duty in Afghanistan, let Kaepernick have it in late August.
The issue making its way over to hockey is relatively new and started last week when Blue Jackets and Team USA coach John Tortorella _ whose son is also an Army Ranger _ said any of his players who sat for the national anthem wouldn't play.
Sestito said he could never see American-born players doing something similar in hockey because of the culture of the sport, one that isn't real high on individualism.
"No, definitely not," Sestito said. "In the NFL there's, what, 60 guys on a team? Everyone's not really united. Here, in a hockey room, there's 23 guys. Everyone's really united. You're not going to see a guy do that and stand out alone."
One of the more active Penguins on social media, Sestito originally made his thoughts known during a four-tweet outburst on Aug. 27. He said he caught some flak for it and was called a racist, but he's not about to change his views.
Or apologize for sharing them.
"I don't care," Sestito said. "I got called a racist a couple times, but I'm the furthest thing from that. I stick up for first responders. They have a tough life. And to see a guy disrespect them like that, it's brutal to see."
