The NFL has permitted players this season to adorn the reverse of their helmets with individual messages supporting causes or honoring lives lost in the quest for racial equality and social justice. The Pittsburgh Steelers as a team chose to support a simple, unified message, in donning the name of Antwon Rose Jr., a 17-year-old who lost his life to police violence in Pittsburgh.
That name was affixed to the reverse of every helmet. Only one was taped over to feature another name—the name of Alwyn Cashe, a name that many are now learning for the first time after seeing it on the back of the helmet of the Steelers’ left tackle, Alejandro Villanueva.