Steelers' Alejandro Villanueva donates royalty check earned from newfound popularity to AFC North cities

Mike Jones | USA TODAY

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Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva became an unlikely and unintentional hero for some football fans last season, leading to a boost in jersey and memorabilia sales for the Pro Bowler and former Army Ranger.

Villanueva ranked 30th in player sales and received a nice royalty check as a result. But rather than pocket the money, he's decided to donate the proceeds to various charities in Pittsburgh and the other three AFC North cities where he regularly appears — Baltimore, Cincinnati and Cleveland — according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. They spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because Villanueva himself didn’t want to discuss the matter.

He never intended to become the champion of critics who deemed players that knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice as unpatriotic. When the Steelers remained in the tunnel during the The Star-Spangled Banner on Sept. 24, choosing to remove themselves from the polarizing debate before a game in Chicago, Villanueva, who served in Afghanistan, tried to move just far away enough from the tunnel to view the flag and stand for the anthem. He later said he didn’t intend to look like he was separating himself from his team. Nevertheless, the move made him very popular with some fans.

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So when Villanueva received his royalty check, he felt better using it to help others than keeping the money. One night, he sat down at his laptop and started researching causes he wanted to support. He picked school systems. He counted Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson among one of his most respected opponents, so he decided to send a check to Johnson’s charity.

Villanueva didn’t have a particularly close relationship with anyone on the Browns roster, so he sent a $7,000 check to Cleveland with a note that read, “Here’s a check for your foundation. Good luck this year on all but two games. Haha, Al Villanueva.”

He also sent checks to Baltimore area police officers and first responders. In all, Villanueva sent checks to 20 different places.

Through his agent, Villanueva declined comment or to reveal how much he had donated.

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