Does a photo show Tim Walz and his wife Gwen cheering at a football game while there were no players on the field? No, that's not true: A play was happening on the other end of the football field, outside the scope of the photo. The University of Michigan was playing against the University of Minnesota on September 28, 2024, and with one minute and 37 seconds left in the quarter, a player scored a touchdown at the 12-yard line. The scoreboard in the photo showed one minute and 37 seconds on the clock.
The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) on September 30, 2024. The on-screen text read:
Tim Walz and his wife cheering while no one is on the field is such a heartwarming story.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 13:37:28 2024 UTC)
The post's caption read, "Tim Walz and his wife cheering while no one is on the field is so on brand." The post did not offer any evidence that Tim and Gwen Walz are in this photo, as the two people in the foreground are facing away from the camera, nor that no one was on the football field when this photo was taken.
A closer look at the photo shows there is someone in white standing on the field. Evidence of this is below; highlighting by Lead Stories:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 16:51:57 2024 UTC)
A reverse image search (archived here) led Lead Stories to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's verified Facebook page and images of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to Walz's Facebook account, the picture in the claim was posted (archived here) on September 29, 2024. No game was played on September 29, 2024, but on September 28, 2024, the Michigan Wolverines played against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The game clock on the scoreboard's bottom left corner reads, "1:37." A picture from a different Michigan State game shows that the "1:37" is in the place where time during a quarter would be displayed. According to reporting on the game, with 1:37 left in the fourth quarter, Minnesota scored a touchdown on a 12-yard pass play. The clock on the scoreboard is below; highlighting by Lead Stories:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Oct 1 16:12:16 2024 UTC)
That would explain why the field appears empty, because all the players are at the other end of the field. Video evidence of the 12-yard touchdown catch is here (archived here).
Lead Stories has reached out to Tim Walz's vice presidential campaign and will update this article if a relevant response is received.
Other Lead Stories articles on claims related to Tim Walz are here.
More Lead Stories fact checks on the 2024 U.S. presidential election are here.
