Alejandro Villanueva to present Steelers’ teammates with Army helmet decals

In honor of Veteran’s Day this weekend, Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Alejandro Villanueva. — himself a veteran — is presenting each of his teammates with helmet decals for Week 10’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.

The decals represent the 13 different branches of the Army.

“It’s just a small-unit patch that really doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the history behind it means the whole world to a lot of veterans,” Villanueva said, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. “They died for that patch. When you watch the Steelers on Sunday and you see the flash of the 10th round division and the 7th round division … you’re calling out specific units.”

Villanueva is giving out specific decals to each player, based on his personality and the unit’s job.

Villanueva has been a prominent part of the season’s National Anthem debate. While he later said that it was accidental, he was the only member of his team to leave the locker room tunnel during the National Anthem in Week 3.

It led to the veteran becoming an extremely popular figure on both sides of the anthem debate.

Now, it looks like he’s attempting to create more unity in what has apparently been a divided Steelers locker room. Good for Villanueva.

By Michael Dixon

Bay Area born and raised, I have extensive experience in both the print and online worlds. There are few ... More about Michael Dixon