Anthem Kneeling

Did Deion Sanders, head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder, bench "one of his best" players for kneeling while the national anthem was playing? No, that's not true: The claim was featured in an article on a satirical website. The site's About Us page says: "Everything on this website is fiction." The claim appeared in an article (archived…

Did the NFL's ethics committee deny Colin Kaepernick's request to return to "active status" and suggest "he should go sell hair products"? No, that's not true: This claim comes from a satirical website that has a history of fabricating content surrounding popular topics, and that features a disclaimer stating, "Everything on this website is fiction." Lead Stories could not find…

Did New England Patriots football coach Bill Belichick overrule the players' vote to allow "protest" kneeling? No, that's not true: This claim comes from a satirical website that has a history of fabricating content surrounding popular topics, and features a disclaimer that states, "Everything on this website is fiction." Lead Stories could not find evidence on Google News to substantiate…

Was Megan Rapinoe, a renowned U.S. women's soccer player, fired from the Seattle "OL Reign" team and the U.S. Olympic team, and did she also lose a multi-million TV deal as a result of missing a penalty kick during the Women's World Cup series? No, that's not true: Rapinoe only announced finishing her professional career after the U.S. was eliminated…

Did the Jacksonville Jaguars sign the free agent football quarterback and activist, Colin Kaepernick, to the position of tight end? No, that's not true: Tim Tebow holds that position, while Kaepernick is not with any NFL team at the moment. This is a satirical post poking at the Jacksonville Jaguars because some football players and activists have complaints about a…

Did the NFL's Dallas Cowboys sign free agent quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick? No, that's not true: This is a baseless but possibly wishful-thinking claim. The claim appeared in an Instagram meme (archived here) where it was published by the account "@funnynfl.ig" on October 20, 2020, with the text, "BREAKING COWBOYS SIGNING COLIN KAEPERNICK." The meme read: BREAKING: The Dallas…

Did Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden take a knee during the national anthem while visiting Miami's Little Haiti? No, that's not true: Photos showing Biden kneeling were taken as he and his wife posed for a photographs with Haitian dancers at a cultural center. The national anthem was not playing at the time. The claim appeared as a meme in…

Did President Trump post a combative tweet about Colin Kaepernick ? No, that's not true: This is a fake tweet created by a sports satire site, @SavageSportsMMZ. The site's watermark is clearly visible in two places on the screenshot of the made-up tweet. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) where it was reposted by another sports satire…

Did Pittsburgh Steelers management say they would fine players $1 million if they kneel during the national anthem? No, that's not true: This is a fictional piece written by a known satire website. These stories are often re-published by other sites without the satire label in order to trick people into sharing them as truth. Disproving the satire claim, Steelers…

Did Tim Tebow take a knee in 2012 during the playing of the national anthem? No, he did not: There is no record of the former NFL quarterback kneeling on the sideline as the national anthem was playing before a game in 2012 or any other season. The claim appeared in a meme included in a post (archived here) published…