Did the NFL ban rainbow gear from the playing field after Philadelphia Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni wore a rainbow hat? No, that's not true: The claim was spread by a Vietnamese-based publisher who used AI-generated text and images in an article that went viral on social media. There are no authentic photos of Coach Sirianni wearing the hat. A quote attributed to Sirianni criticizing the National Football League for banning rainbow symbols is fake. The NFL has not changed its policy of supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) shared on The Eagles Nest Facebook page, which is controlled from Vietnam, on August 26, 2025. The post featured an image of Sirianni wearing an Eagles hat with a rainbow design, with a quote that read "So the NFL thinks banning rainbows is going to unite us? Wrong side of history." The caption read:
BREAKING NEWS : "The NFL's surprise decision to cut ties with Stonewall and ban all rainbow-themed gear has ignited fierce debate across the league -- and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has now stepped forward with a response that's turning even more heads."See full article in the comments
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of Facebook by Lead Stories)
The Facebook account hosting the post is not a typical source of information for American football fans, as it is administered from Vietnam, according to Meta transparency data (archived here).
(Source: screenshot of Facebook by Lead Stories)
The post links to an article (archived here) in the top of the comment section that opens:
BREAKING: The NFL has officially terminated its agreement and issued a sweeping ban that will prevent Philadelphia Eagles captains -- and all other team leaders -- from wearing rainbow armbands in support of LGBTQ+ causes, along with any rainbow-themed imagery on the field such as shoelaces, wristbands, or patches.
The next paragraph claimed the ban was hotly debated "across the league":
In a decision that's already sparking heated debate across the league, the NFL has officially ended its agreement allowing Philadelphia Eagles captains to wear rainbow armbands in support of LGBTQ+, along with other rainbow-themed imagery such as shoelaces, wristbands, and helmet stickers.
Lead Stories could find no reference to any terminated agreement or "sweeping ban" relating to "rainbow-themed imagery" announced by the NFL. Nothing is on the NFL's website, nor is it reported by any media organizations, about a "heated debate."
The only instances (archived here) of Sirianni wearing the rainbow hat found online are in posts making the false claim. Similar images of the rainbow Eagles hat are found on websites referencing the controversy and offering the hats for sale. The Philadelphia Eagles' online merchandise store (archived here) does not offer the hat.
The NFL makes no secret of its support of the LGBTQ community. The NFL's official website has a page (archived here) titled "FOOTBALL IS FOR EVERYONE" that carries this message:
The NFL provides financial support and collaboration with a host of different organizations that serve the LGBTQ community, including GLADD, the Trevor Project, Athlete Ally, the National Gay Flag Football League, and Covenant House. Their collective work comes to life at various events, via social media campaigns, through PSAs, via charitable contributions, and more. The League also works with local LGBTQ+ organizations surrounding NFL events--including Super Bowl--in each host city.
Another major clue that this is a made-up controversy is that it was most likely made up by artificial intelligence. The JustDone.com AI text detector checked the full text of the article using four different tools and concluded that 72 percent showed signs of AI generation.
(Source: screenshot of JustDone.com by Lead Stories)
The ZeroGPT AI detection tool was more specific about which part of the story was written by AI. It highlighted in yellow almost every word in the first half.
(Source: screenshot of ZeroGPT by Lead Stories)
