Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey to remove Antwon Rose Jr.'s name from helmet
Maurkice Pouncey, a co-captain and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-longest tenured player, indicated he will remove Antwon Rose Jr.’s name from the back of his helmet.
“I want to make sure (police) understand I inadvertently supported a cause of which I did not fully comprehend the entire background of the case,” Pouncey said Thursday on his verified Instagram account. “I take responsibility for not doing more investigating into something that is sensitive to the community and (Rose’s) family.”
The Steelers announced Monday every player all season would wear a helmet adorned by the name of Rose, a Black teen who in 2018 died after being shot in the back three times by an East Pittsburgh police officer.
The Monday announcement was made on the Steelers’ official website. It did not include details such as that Rose was in a vehicle matching the description of one that had been involved in a drive-by shooting, nor that the white officer who shot Rose, Michael Rosfeld, was acquitted by a jury following a four-day trial last year.
One of the other individuals in the vehicle with Rose when it was stopped pleaded guilty to being the shooter in the drive-by incident.
Pouncey, the Steelers’ 2019 nominee as the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for “exceptional character and work off the football field,” posted on Instagram he “was unaware of the whole story surrounding (Rose’s) death and what transpired in the trial following the tragedy,” and that “moving forward, I will make my own decision about what to wear on the back of my helmet.”
The Steelers’ initial announcement of the helmet tribute emphasized what coach Mike Tomlin has said numerous times in recent years since players kneeling during the national anthem became a divisive issue: Any demonstration or protest the Steelers will be taking part in will be done as a collective unit.
“The Steelers players and coaches united as one to wear a single name on the back of their helmets and hats for the entire 2020 season — Antwon Rose Jr.,” read the Steelers’ in-house story.
That unraveled hours later when during the game, tackle Alejandro Villanueva was spotted with the name “Alwyn Cashe” on his helmet. Cashe, an Army sergeant 1st class, died in 2005 after a bomb detonated near his vehicle while on duty in Iraq. Cashe suffered serious burns on more than 70% of his body when he ran back into the vehicle in attempt to rescue other soldiers trapped inside.
Cashe posthumously received the Silver Star for his actions, and a movement is afoot to recognize him with the Medal of Honor, the highest designation possible.
Rose’s mother, Michelle Kenney, said Tomlin told her during a phone call the team had voted on using her son’s name on their helmets. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, though, on Thursday said the players talked only “briefly,” and the decision on whose name to adorn the helmet was made “from people upstairs” in the front office and/or coaching staff.
Kenney criticized Villanueva and the Steelers in a Facebook post Tuesday. During a Thuresday evening phone interview with the Tribune-Review, Kenney reiterated Tomlin told her the entire team was going to wear his name on their helmets.
On Tuesday, after Villanueva’s choice to alter his helmet, she wrote of “(holding) the Pittsburgh Steelers even more accountable” and, directed at Villanueva, “if you are not a TEAM player, then maybe you are playing for the wrong team.”
Kenney said Thursday that although she at first was “disappointed” reading Pouncey’s post that she felt he ended it with “some common ground” with her.
“I believe in individual choice,” Kenney said. “So although (the entire team wearing her son’s name) was nice to hear, if someone wanted to do something different, I personally as Antwon’s mom, would not have been offended. That’s a personal choice.
“I would not have been offended at all – but I just think it should have been handled differently, that’s all.”
Steelers co-captains Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward on Wednesday said they were unaware of Villanueva’s decision. Neither outwardly supported nor admonished Villanueva, a former Army Ranger, for the act. Tomlin said Tuesday that Villanueva had discussed the name on his helmet, and Tomlin indicated he gave Villanueva his blessing.
Another Steelers veteran, linebacker Vince Williams, said on social media Wednesday he “was under the impression you could put whoever you wanted on your helmet.
“I didn’t even notice (or) look at the back of my helmet,” Williams said on Instagram Live. “…I don’t care what Al had on the back of his helmet.”
Fitzpatrick likewise said team cohesion is not an issue.
“We’re going to have our conversations in the locker room,” Fitzpatrick said, “but when we go out onto the field, we are going to take our opinions and our feelings off to the side and be grown men about the situation and move forward.”
The Steelers on Thursday released a statement attributed to president Art Rooney II that said the organization “respects the decisions of each player, coach and staff member relating how to express themselves on social justice topics.”
“Along the way, we understand that individually we may say or do things that are not universally accepted,” Rooney’s statement, in part, read. “There will be uncomfortable conversations. But we will strive to be a force for unity in our efforts to support a more just society.”
Pouncey is heavily involved in charitable efforts related to police. The past three seasons, he donated Steelers tickets to the Pittsburgh police for them to take youth in city neighborhoods to games. Pouncey has said he’s done this to improve police/community relations.
“Make no mistake,” Pouncey said via Instagram, “I am against racism and I believe the best thing I can do is to continue helping repair relationships between police and their communities.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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