Steelers' Alejandro Villanueva continues to have highest-selling gear

October 02, 2017

Steelers' Alejandro Villanueva continues to have highest-selling gear

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva became the best-selling player in the NFL by midday Monday, September 25^th. And he continues to do so with increasing sales from fans purchasing his jersey and merchandise that has his name and number on them.

A spokesman for Fanatics, which runs the NFL's online store, confirmed to ESPN that, over the past 24 hours, more Villanueva gear, including jerseys, name, number, T-shirts hats, and posters/photos, have been ordered than that of any other NFL player. Villanueva beat out New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the top spot.

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A former Army Ranger who earned a Bronze Star and served three tours in Afghanistan, Villanueva was the only Steelers player who came outside the tunnel during that Sunday's national anthem, after the team collectively decided not to be on the sideline during the song. Pictures and video of Villanueva standing, with his hand on his heart, filled social media networks.

His actions weren't supported by all, including his own coach. Asked after the Steelers' 23-17 loss to the Chicago Bears what he thought of Villanueva's positioning for the anthem, Mike Tomlin responded, "I was looking for 100 percent participation. We were gonna be respectful of our football team."

While Villanueva, a Spanish-American, already has a strong following in Latin America, it is unprecedented to see an offensive lineman rise to the top of NFL player sales for any period of time. The only comparison of an out-of-nowhere player to see a rise to the top was backup defensive end Devon Still, whose Cincinnati Bengals jersey became one of the league's most popular jerseys in 2014, after his daughter's fight with cancer became public.

As of today more than roughly 200 players do not stand for the national anthem during NFL games.