Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva's gear was the NFL's hottest merchandise by midday Monday.
A spokesman for Fanatics, which runs the NFL's online store, confirmed to ESPN that over a 24-hour span after Sunday's kickoff, more Villanueva merchandise -- including jerseys, and name and number T-shirts -- has been ordered than that of any other NFL player.
Villanueva beat out New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the top spot. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers rounded out the top five over the past day.
Both the NFL Shop and Fanatics websites had Villanueva jerseys and T-shirts in men's and women's sizes.
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 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.
Villanueva on Monday said he did not want to give the impression the team was not unified and said several times that it was "my fault only" that things didn't go off as planned.
He said he walked to a point where he could see the flag on the field, but he wound up too far in front of his teammates and didn't want to walk back to the team during the song.
"Unfortunately I threw my teammates under the bus, unintentionally," he said in a video from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Many NFL players took a knee for Sunday's anthem after comments made by President Donald Trump on Friday disparaging some players who have used the platform of the national anthem to stage protests of the past two seasons.
Psyche!
Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller pulled the old "too slow" trick on his buddy Tyrod Taylor, yanking back just as the Buffalo Bills' prone quarterback was reaching up to grab his helping hand.
The two, who are friends, laughed off the whimsical middle school move.
The joke was on Miller, though, when referee Carl Cheffers either didn't notice Miller and Taylor yukking it up as they had all afternoon or didn't see the humor in it.
So, out came the flag.
"I was halfway off the field," Denver cornerback Aqib Talib said. "Next thing I know, I heard the crowd start cheering."
Miller had just buried his face into Taylor's chest with a textbook tackle midway through the fourth quarter to force a third-down incompletion. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave the Bills a new set of downs, and they chewed up more clock before kicking the game-clinching field goal in their 26-16 victory Sunday.
"I've got to be smarter than that," Miller said. "I killed the game today with that penalty. I've just got to be better than that."
Broncos Coach Vance Joseph lauded Miller for owning the mistake, but he wondered why it was called at all.
"I'm a firm believer in the rules, and I read the rules this morning, and I didn't see offering the guy a hand and taking it away as a penalty," Joseph said Monday.
SPORTS QUIZ
Where did Von Miller play college football?
ANSWER
Texas A&M
Sports on 09/26/2017