Professional athletes in this country are a pampered lot.

Granted, they mostly have worked hard to get where they are.

But once they achieve an NFL or an NBA dream they, along with entertainers, come as close to what we could call an aristocracy in this country.

Though, real aristos at least have to make a pretense at honorable and adult behavior.

But in the midst of these coddled millionaires there is one pro athlete who understands the system that got him to the status he enjoys. He’s not the sadly cowardly Drew Brees, not the chowderheaded LeBron James, not the Marxist racist Colin Kaepernick.

It’s a defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers you may never have heard of. His name is Stephon Tuitt and the man has moral valor.

When faced with ignorant hordes of his NFL colleagues kneeling during the national anthem to protest almost non-existent police brutality, this is what Tuitt has to say, “I’m not kneeling for the flag and screw anybody who have a problem with that. My grandmother was a immigrant from the Carribean and…worked her ass off to bring 20 people over the right way. She had no money and educated herself to be a nurse. She living good now.”

Wow. Bravo, Mr. Tuitt. Where do we begin to sing his praises? First is his defiant attitude.

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True American man that he is, he will not bow and scrape in front of a mob. He has his own mind and he dares the Left or anyone else to make him pay obeisance to their views.

He also understands the relationship between hard work and success. He and his family did not ask for handouts or special rules.

They worked damned hard and achieved the American dream. Tuitt has lived and respects the system and process that got him to where he is.

And very importantly, his family came to this country “the right way.”

They played by the rules just like millions from all over the world before them. When they got here they moved up the economic ladder and now a grandchild of the first immigrant in the family has earned undreamed-of economic success, no doubt fostered by the hardworking example of his grandmother.

Another Steelers player, Cameron Heyward, was not as courageous as Tuitt and offered mealy-mouthed platitudes on the kneeling issue: “I think we want to stay united in what we do and what we want to accomplish. Coach T [Tomlin] always told me that if we win a Super Bowl, that’s not enough for the city of Pittsburgh. We want to leave a lasting change on our community as well.”

By “lasting change” we would guess Mr. Heyward would have in mind some of the more colorful of the proposals of domestic terrorists Black Lives Matter and Antifa. Not to mention their Democrat (and perhaps Chinese) sponsors.

That’s not for Stephon Tuitt. He and his family understand America because they have lived its promise. That’s why he honors the national anthem and the flag and in doing so, his gallantry honors all of us.