Dozens of upset NFL fans are boycotting their teams and burning their expensive memorabilia in response to players choosing to sit or kneel during the national anthem on Sunday.
More than 200 players in the league knelt or sat down during the national anthem including players with the New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots in protest following PresidentDonald Trump’s controversial comments about the NFL where he called for players who protested to be fired.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans are even more upset with the team after all of the players except for one stayed inside the locker room during the national anthem on Sunday.
In a video shared to YouTube, Robert Williams of Texas, burns over $1,000 worth of Steelers gear.
‘We stand for this country. We have morals in this country,’ Williams says.
‘My great uncles bones are lying in the bottom of Pearl Harbour [sic] for this country, for the flag, for your freedom to play in the NFL and to say whatever you want to say.
Dozens of upset NFL fans are boycotting their teams and burning their expensive memorabilia in response to players choosing to sit or kneel during the national anthem on Sunday. Robert Williams (above) of Texas, burned over $1,000 in Steelers gear
While burning the gear, Williams said: ‘We stand for this country. We have morals in this country. My great uncles bones are lying in the bottom of Pearl Harbour [sic] for this country, for the flag, for your freedom to play in the NFL and to say whatever you want to say.’
‘But you do not disrespect the flag and the county [sic] and the constitution and why we have our freedoms. So watch this stuff burn.’
Williams, who is a master electrician, put all of his gear inside of a fire pit before pouring lighter fluid on the merchandise. He then lights it on fire while passionately proclaiming, ‘you’re not going to disrespect this country.’
Several other fans of the team have uploaded similar videos to social media and YouTube saying they are no longer fans of the team, including Arvin Gibbs, who claims to have been a fan since 1966.
Gibbs video shows a Steelers jersey hanging on a post burning, as he stands by waiving an American flag with the national anthem playing in the background.
The clip was shared to his Twitter page on Sunday and has over 20,000 retweets.
Alejandro Villanueva, who was an Army Ranger (left) and served in Afghanistan, was the only Steelers player on the active squad that could be seen by the crowd who came out of the locker room or tunnel to salute during the national anthem on Sunday
The remainder of the team was either in the locker room or standing near the tunnel out of sight of the crowd
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was not happy with his player Alejandro Villanueva’s decision to take part in the pre-game national anthem ceremony on Sunday.
‘Like I said, I was looking for 100 per cent participation, we were gonna be respectful of our football team,’ Tomlin said following his team’s 23-17 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Left tackle Villanueva, who served three tours in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger, stood at the edge of the end zone at Chicago’s Soldier Field with his hand over his heart as the Star Spangled Banner was performed.
His teammates, who were reportedly surprised by Villanueva’s actions, remained either in the locker room or stood near the tunnel out of sight of the crowd.
Other NFL team fans have also shared their anger over the protest on social media. New Orleans Saints Fan, Denise La Grange Fox (left), took to Facebook and shared the text image on the right to her page and burned her Saints gear
Other NFL team fans have also shared their anger over the protest on social media.
New Orleans Saints Fan, Denise La Grange Fox, took to Facebook and said this was a ‘very, very sad day’ for her.
She shared a video, which seems to have been taken down, throwing her Saints memorabilia into a fire pit, dousing the jerseys, flags, banners, and signs in lighter fluid, then dropping a struck match on it all.
‘To the NFL and to you, Tom Benson!’ She wrote in a Facebook post. ‘Together you have ruined and taken the fun out of sports! I’m calling for a burn of all Saints memorabilia!’
She says she’s no longer a New Orleans Saints fan, and that she’s done with football and anything that has to do with disrespecting the American flag.
‘I’m just totally disgusted,’ she said in her video. ‘Screw you, NFL.’
Bob J. Jostad (above) expressed his displeasure with the Raiders after several players participated in the protest on Sunday. ‘Don’t think the national anthem is important? F*** you I’m done with the NFL,’ Jostad says in the clip
Others shared the same sentiments as Fox, as an Oakland Raiders fan shared a video of himself also burning his team gear.
Bob J. Jostad expressed his displeasure with the Raiders after several players participated in the protest on Sunday.
‘Don’t think the national anthem is important? F*** you I’m done with the NFL,’ Jostad says in the clip while pouring lighter fluid on top of Raiders’ memorabilia.
‘This is the first of the Raiders’ sweatshirts. Let’s not forget that one. Now I just bought this for work, but have to get rid of it too.’
Jostad continues to pile his Raiders’ gear on the flames.
‘We should support the national anthem a little bit instead of being a bunch of whiny little f***ing b****es in the NFL. Play the game p*****. See you NFL I’m done.’