Fake/satire website Freedum Junkshun posted an article titled "BREAKING: NFL Suspends Three Teams That Stayed In Locker Rooms For National Anthem". The most important part of the hoax read:
The Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers, all teams with predominantly black rosters, stayed in the locker rooms while the National Anthem was being performed, breaking a league rule of conduct:
"The teams involved knew that they were required to be on the field at that time and how their players "should" respect the flag. Playerts aren't held to the standard because of the wording, placed there early this season by the player's union.
The committee for football operations has decided that those teams will sit out their next three games, giving the teams they were to play the automatic win. They will also be forbidden from the playoffs and the first round of next year's draft."
There is no "committee for football operations" and no such statement has been made by any real NFL-related organisation or body.
Freedum Junkshun carries a satire disclaimer at the bottom of the page which reads:
We believe that there is nothing more precious than the mind of an aging conservative. Here we gather a boatload of bullhonkey, works of pure satirical fiction, to give the fist-shakers of the world a reason to hate. Reality is often in the eye of the beholder. You won't find any of it here.
Join the fun in the comments on our Facebook page where you too can watch David Hasselhoff running over someone's poodle magically transformed into a crime against humanity by Barack Obama or yet another murder the Clintons got away with.
The owner/writer of the site is self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has made it his full time job to troll gullible conservatives and Trump supporters into liking and sharing his articles. He runs several other websites such as asamericanasapplepie.org, ourlandofthefree.com and thelastlineofdefense.org. Sometimes he is also known under his nickname "Busta Troll".
Blair's articles frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who often omit the satire disclaimer and any other hints the stories are fake. Blair has tried to get these sites shut down in the past but new ones keep cropping up.
If you see one of his stories on a site that does not contain a satire disclaimer, assume it is fake news. If you do see the satire disclaimer it is of course also fake news.
