But on Monday, Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who toured Afghanistan, told reporters that he "unintentionally" walked out of the tunnel and in doing so, "threw my teammates under the bus.

But on Monday, Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who toured Afghanistan, told reporters that he "unintentionally" walked out of the tunnel and in doing so, "threw my teammates under the bus."

"Unfortunately, I threw them under the bus unintentionally," the 29-year-old said, as transcribed by ESPN, additionally stating, "unwillingly, I made a mistake."

He added: "It's completely wrong and every single time I see that picture of me standing by myself I feel embarrassed to a degree, because like I said, unintentionally I left my teammates behind. It wasn't me stepping forward. I never planned to boycott the plan that the Steelers came up with. I just thought that there would be some middle ground where I could stay in the tunnel, nobody would see me, and then afterward I just wouldn't talk to the media, like I do all the time." 

To watch Villanueva's full comments yesterday, click the video below.