Steelers Maurkice Pouncey Eric Kelly Antwon Rose Jr.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ center Maurkice Pouncey displayed the name of fallen Pittsburgh police officer, Eric Kelly, on his helmet during Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos despite his teammates continuing to honor Antwon Rose, Jr. as part of the NFL’s new social justice campaign.

Pittsburgh Steelers Honor Alleged “Trigger Man” Antwon Rose, Jr.

The lineman broke from the team decision to honor Antwon Rose, Jr. who was fatally shot by Pittsburgh police in June 2018.

After learning the dead teen was an alleged triggerman in a drive-by shooting, Pouncey chose to honor Pittsburgh police officer Eric Kelly who was killed in the line of duty in 2009.

Pouncey regrets having worn Rose’s name on his helmet during the first game of the season against the New York Giants. 

He trusted that the Steelers organization had selected a worthy person to honor, but that trust was misplaced.

Maurkice Pouncey Denounces Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antwon Rose, Jr. Choice

The 31-year-old took to Instagram to explain his decision, bypassing the need for the media to edit or filter his comments.

Pouncey says that he was not given the full story about Antwon Rose, Jr. And also that he did not feel it was appropriate for the team to honor him.

The Steelers player states that he does work with the police and wanted to honor one of the fallen heroes in blue.

Pouncey will not allow the Steelers to dictate who he honors during games going forward. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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@pghpolicechief @pghpolice @northmiamipd @lakelandpd

A post shared by Maurkice Pouncey (@maurkicepouncey) on

During that first game when the team honored Rose, Alejandro Villanuevo also broke ranks. The offensive tackle and US Army veteran instead wore the name of war hero Alwyn Cashe. 

Backstory: Steelers Player Stands Alone As He Honors Fallen Iraq War Vet Instead Of Police Brutality Victim

NFL Teams Need To Do Their Research

If the NFL is going to continue this massive social justice push, they should at least respect the public and their fans enough to do their research.

From Breitbart: 

The Steelers had supposedly met as a team and chose to honor Rose with an untied effort by placing the teen’s name on the back of their helmets. But days later, Pouncey said that he was never given the full story of Rose’s death and later found out that a shooting victim had identified the teen as having been the triggerman in a drive-by shooting.

This week, Pouncey was true to his word with his decision to break from his team by shedding Rose’s name and, instead, adding officer Kelly’s.

Related: Steelers’ Stephon Tuitt Defiantly Refuses To Kneel For Anthem Out Of Respect For His Immigrant Grandmother

The Steelers organization made a massive error by making the decision to honor Antwon Rose, Jr..

Worse, they failed to give proper information to the players. This led them down an ugly path.

Maurkice Pouncey acknowledges that he should have done his own research. But at some point you have to trust your team.

The Pittsburgh Steelers failed their players, fans, and the men and women in blue who protect them all. 

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