{"id":1597459,"date":"2022-08-09T17:10:23","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T21:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1597459"},"modified":"2022-08-09T17:10:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T21:10:29","slug":"fact-check-did-mike-tomlin-tell-his-players-they-are-athletes-and-not-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-mike-tomlin-tell-his-players-they-are-athletes-and-not-activists\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Did Mike Tomlin Tell His Players They Are Athletes And \u2018Not Activists\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-did-mike-tomlin-tell-his-players-they-are-athletes-and-not-activists%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1597459&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Tomlin-e1634897299593.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>An image\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10226872171817876&#038;set=a.1474480349535&#038;type=3&#038;theater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid%3D10226872171817876%26set%3Da.1474480349535%26type%3D3%26theater&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1660051003019000&#038;usg=AOvVaw263YYaHaSpTTPdP15okKSn\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told his players they are athletes and \u201cnot activists\u201d in reference to the controversy surrounding kneeling for the national anthem.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence Tomlin made such a remark. A spokesperson for the Pittsburgh Steelers denied the claim.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kneeling during the national anthem first became a subject of national debate in 2016 after San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled during a National Football League preseason game to protest racial injustice and police brutality, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/story\/pro-and-con-kneeling-during-the-national-anthem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Britannica<\/a>. Since then, numerous professional athletes have taken to kneeling during the national anthem.<\/p>\n<p>The Facebook image, shared over 1,700 times, claims Tomlin said there would be \u201cno more\u201d kneeling on his field. \u2018You\u2019re ahtlete\u2019s (<em>sic<\/em>) not activists,\u201d Tomlin allegedly said..The image also claims the head coach said he was \u201ctired of hating America and not being able to stand and recognize a song for 2 minutes once a week,\u201d an apparent reference to the national anthem.<\/p>\n<p>There is no evidence Tomlin has made such remarks. Check Your Fact searched the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.steelers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steelers website<\/a> and the organization\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=america%20(from%3ASteelers)&#038;src=typed_query&#038;f=top\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/steelers\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">media<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile\/100044445338998\/search\/?q=america\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accounts<\/a> as well as Tomlin\u2019s verified <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=america%20(from%3ACoachTomlin)&#038;src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a> account but found nothing resembling those comments. There are likewise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=mike+tomlin+kneeling+on+field&#038;source=lnms&#038;tbm=nws&#038;sa=X&#038;ved=2ahUKEwi7tYes27f5AhV-JkQIHUnLD0YQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&#038;biw=1440&#038;bih=821&#038;dpr=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">no credible news reports<\/a> suggesting the Steelers coach made those remarks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not sure what this is or where it came from but it is inaccurate,\u201d said Steelers Senior Director for Communications <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteelersPRBurt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Burt Lauten<\/a> in an email to Check Your Fact. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2019\/12\/20\/fact-check-tim-tebow-national-anthem-abortion-colin-kaepernick\/?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Did Tim Tebow Kneel During The National Anthem To Protest Abortion?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The viral claim appears to stem from an article published by the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220716122350\/https:\/\/dunning-kruger-times.com\/steelers-mike-tomlin-says-no-more-kneeling-on-his-field-youre-athletes-not-activists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dunning-Kruger Times<\/a>, a satirical website. The <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220601190041\/https:\/\/dunning-kruger-times.com\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dunning-Kruger Times<\/a> discloses on its website that it is a \u201csubsidiary of the \u2018America\u2019s Last Line of Defense\u2019 network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery.\u201d The image shared on Facebook does not include such a Disclaimer.<\/p>\n<p>Tomlin has commented on players kneeling for the national anthem in the past. In 2020, he said the team and organization would support players who decide to kneel for the national anthem, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/29353541\/pittsburgh-steelers-players-kneel-mike-tomlin-organization-support\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An image\u00a0shared on Facebook claims Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told his players they are athletes and \u201cnot activists\u201d in reference to the controversy surrounding kneeling for the national<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1597459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1597459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1597459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1597459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1597459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1597459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}