Whether teams kneel, don't kneel or even come out of the locker room prior to the start of games for the playing of the national anthem as part of protests for social injustices has become a major topic again this year.
The Steelers don't open their regular season until Monday night at MetLife Stadium against the Giants. But the team, which stood as one two weeks ago prior to a practice as Mike Tomlin addressed the situation, will once again make it known prior to that game that the Steelers stand as one.
What they might do, however, remains to be seen.
"We'll come out together as one unit and we'll express our beliefs in that aspect," cornerback Steven Nelson said Saturday of the team's plans for any pre-game demonstrations. "We're all together, unity."
The Steelers have never had a player kneel for the playing of the national anthem but when the issue previously arose in 2017, they decided as a team to stay in the tunnel during the playing of the anthem in a game at Chicago, with only the coaching staff going out to midfield to stand at attention.
That went awry, however, when offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva, a decorated Army veteran, got separated from the team as he stood at the edge of the tunnel, hand on his heart during the anthem.
That caused a different kind of firestorm for a team that didn't want to be dragged into larger fray regarding the anthem and protests.
In Thursday night's regular season opener in Kansas City, the Chiefs took the field prior to the start of the game, with one player, defensive end Alex Okafor, kneeling during the playing of the anthem.
Their opponent, the Texans, came onto the field after the anthem had played. Both teams then met at midfield and locked arms in a show of unity, though there were a smattering of boos from the crowd. Arrowhead Stadium was limited to around 16,000 fans that night.
The Steelers and Giants don't have to be concerned about being booed no matter what they do. MetLife Stadium is one of 14 that will be used on opening weekend that won't have fans in the attendance.
The Steelers have a social justice committee that is comprised of veterans such as Cam Heyward, Vince Williams and Maurkice Pouncey.
"We have a group of guys who discuss things. We all get together after that and come to a decision," wide receiver James Washington said Saturday. "We have a deal in place that we'll do. It will just be shown Monday night."
