The debate over whether athletes should kneel during the national anthem was sparked in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, then a San Francisco 49ers quarterback, kneeled to protest racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S. Athletes across the country continue to participate in this form of protest today.
Several social media users have shared an article announcing Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to ban kneeling before games.
A Facebook post published August 1 shows a screengrab of an article titled, “Steeler’s Mike Tomlin Says No More Kneeling On His Field: ‘You’re Athletes Not Activists.'”
The post was liked more than 2,600 times in its first week. Other viral iterations have been shared on Facebook and Twitter.
But the claim is false. The article was published by the Dunning-Kruger Times, which describes itself as a satire website. Tomlin has previously expressed support for athletes kneeling in protest.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment. The user acknowledged the story’s satirical roots, sending a link to Penn Live’s August 6 fact check.
The presentation of the story online gave no hint of its satirical nature, leading some social media users to take it as truth. One user expressed their pride beneath the Facebook post, commenting, “This is why Mike Tomlin is my favorite coach.” Another commented, “Go Steelers!”
No evidence to back up kneeling ban claim
No major news outlets have reported on Tomlin’s claimed ban on kneeling.
The story originated in an article published by the Dunning-Kruger Times on July 8. The article claimed Tomlin issued a mandate for his team for the upcoming season banning kneeling during the national anthem.
The website reveals its satirical roots on its “About Us” page.
“Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery,” the website’s disclaimer says. “Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real.”
The Facebook post and related memes are an example of what could be called “stolen satire,” where stories written as satire and presented that way originally are captured via screenshot and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation posts are misled, as was the case here.
Though Tomlin himself hasn’t participated in the protest, he has previously expressed his support for players who choose to kneel during the anthem. On a 2020 Zoom call with reporters, Tomlin said, “Our position is simple: We’re going to support our players and their willingness to participate in this — whether it’s statements or actions.”
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that that Mike Tomlin banned kneeling during the national anthem. The story originated in an article published by the Dunning-Kruger Times, a self-identified satire website. Tomlin has previously expressed support for athletes who choose to kneel during the anthem.
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