NASCAR: How the sport’s stance on the NFL national anthem protests could increase its popularity

Don’t underestimate the silent majority

This should be common sense seeing as how Donald Trump won last year’s Presidential Election despite the fact that it seemed like whenever anyone said anything good about him in an argument, they were outnumbered by those who disagreed. That, and the fact that Hillary Clinton thought that she should have been 50 points ahead in the polls.

But here’s how this topic relates to this particular scenario.

Before this past Sunday, there may have been a handful of people who knew who Alejandro Villanueva is. But after he did not participate in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ national anthem protest and stood outside of the team tunnel by himself, every NFL fan soon knew his name.

Maybe the mainstream media didn’t obsess over him like they did when Colin Kaepernick was the only player sitting on the bench during the anthem last preseason, but so be it; who cares about them. The fans took notice.

Villanueva, a former Captain in the U.S. Army and Army Ranger, who is now an offensive lineman for the Steelers, saw his jersey sales skyrocket to the top of the charts on Monday. Yes, the top. He is now ahead of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Odell Beckham and every other player in the league. Every single player.

As an offensive lineman.

An offensive lineman!!

That is absolutely unheard of!!

So like I said, despite the fact that the mainstream media did not focus as much on the lone man standing by the field for the anthem, Villanueva, as they did on the fact that the Steelers were not on the field as a team for it, the fans still took notice of Villanueva, and once again, the silent majority made themselves heard.

Now, how can this benefit NASCAR?