WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg says his habit of standing for the national anthem with his hand over his heart comes from a deep respect for U.S. military veterans, not from politics.
Goldberg made the comments during an appearance on NewsNation, speaking with former Charlotte 49ers head football coach Bill Poggi about the debate that has surrounded the anthem tradition in recent years.
“I stand for the national anthem and I put my hand over my heart because there’s so many people who have put their lives on the line for people that they don’t know just as a job to protect the country. And that, in itself, is a reason to stand up and show allegiance,” Goldberg said.
He said interacting with deployed service members gives him genuine joy, and that he tries to make that connection a regular part of his life.
“I cannot tell you the joy that I get out of seeing these men and women deployed and deriving some type of enjoyment and excitement to interact with someone such as myself. So why wouldn’t you spread that as much as humanly possible and make it part of every day of your life to try to put a smile on somebody’s face,” he said.
Goldberg added that his motivation isn’t about public image.
“I don’t care about getting somebody taking a picture of me shaking somebody’s hand and posting it and showing what a good guy I am. That’s not why I do it. I do it because I can look in their eye and see how much they appreciate it,” he said.
He credited his parents and sister, along with those who came before him, for teaching him “how to be a human being,” and said caring for his family and for the military are among the most important parts of his life now.
“And so I will service the kids and the military till the day I die,” he said. “And it means everything to me. It truly does.”
Goldberg, whose real name is Bill Goldberg, played 14 games in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons between 1992 and 1994 and also spent time in the World League of American Football. After being cut by the Carolina Panthers in 1995, he entered World Championship Wrestling by the end of 1997, where he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship once. He went on to become a three-time world champion in WWE and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login