The Steelers and NFL are in a no-win situation right now when it comes what will happen on game days when the national anthem is played. If they kneel or protest in any way, some fans will criticize them for it. If they don't do any kind of protest, other fans will criticize them for not taking a stance.
It's a true case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.
It's already started on social media. When Mike Tomlin announced Tuesday he and the organization would support the players in whatever it is they decide to do, some people immediately stated they wouldn't watch if the Steelers did something -- regardless what it might be.
"We spend a lot of group time talking about the ongoing issues, talking about the platform that they have and how to best utilize it, how to do so thoughtfully," Tomlin told us on a Zoom call with reporters. "Our position is simple: We are going to support our players and their willingness to partake in this, whether it is statements or actions. You guys know my feelings, I have stated them in the past. Statements are good, but impact is better. Particularly long-term impact. All that we ask is whatever it is that they say and do, they do so thoughtfully, and they do with class."
Tomlin is in a particularly tough situation. He's the longest-tenured Black head coach in the NFL and one of just four minority coaches overall. He supports issues on equality. Always has. But he also doesn't make it the centerpiece of everything he does. In fact, when the Steelers stayed in the tunnel as a team in 2017 in Chicago, with the team getting separated from Alejandro Villanueva, who was the only player visible while the anthem played that day, Tomlin and his coaching staff were at midfield, hats in hands.
That doesn't mean he doesn't care about the issues of minorities. He's the father to three children. He most certainly wants a better life for them. But he's also essentially the CEO of the Steelers. And he sees a difference in this situation, where the dialogue has taken place in the offseason, as opposed to what happened in 2017, when everything was coming to a head a few weeks into a season.
The Steelers never had a single player kneel during the anthem. They attempted to make a statement as a team -- by staying out of the spotlight and refusing to be used as a pawn -- and it backfired on them because the team was separated from Villanueva by a Play-60 flag crew coming off the field.
This time is different. They've had time to have frank discussions.
"A lot of the things that occurred in 2017 transpired in the midst of our journey that is our season," Tomlin said. "Our focus is different. The amount of time that you have to give to non-football things is different. The timeliness of this from an offseason perspective allowed us to really unearth some discussions and take our time and not be concerned about time as a factor as it related to those discussions, so it made it very different."
