Steelers Don't Come Out Of Locker Room For Anthem

CHICAGO (CBS4) - The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't kneel for the national anthem. They weren't even be on the field.

CBS sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl first reported the news when she spoke with head coach Mike Tomlin.

Erdahl tweeted ahead of the game that the Steelers "will NOT be participating in the #NationalAnthem today in CHI."

And the team didn't, instead staying in the locker room.

Tomlin was the only member of the team on the field for the anthem.

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Alejandro Villanueva, and Army Ranger, stood at the tunnel, though, with his hand over his heart, during the anthem.

The team decision not to take the field for the anthem comes following President Donald Trump's remarks Friday night, which he again reiterated on Saturday and Sunday morning, in saying that the players should be fired for not standing during the national anthem.

Ahead of their game in Buffalo, the Broncos players did take the field for the anthem, but several of them did kneel.

Linebacker Brandon Marshall knelt ahead of seven games last season, he says to protest social injustice in America.

He ended his protest in Oakland, "not because everything is perfect, or because I'm changing my stance on things," he posted to Instagram at the time, "but because of my hope for what we can become."

Broncos President of Football Operations and General Manager John Elway said, that "everybody has their right to do what they wish to do, and their beliefs are their beliefs, that's why we live in this country. We'll respect that and whatever you want to do is alright with us."

Elway commented on the issue during a joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers last week. Former 49ers player Colin Kaepernick was the first player to take a stand against racial injustice by kneeling during a preseason game last year.

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Since then, Marshall and other players followed suit.

Elway said he's proud of how Marshall handled his demonstration on and off the field.

"Brandon made a point last year, but he carried it forward," Elway said. "He didn't make a stand on the field before the games, he actually went out in the community and did something, and talked to law enforcement, and has gotten involved in the community."