On September 6, 2023, a report appeared on the website SpaceXMania, which suggested that Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had sacked players for taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem:
NEWS: Mike Tomlin Benchmarks Two Steelers Players for Kneeling During Anthem
The sports world was enthralled by an unprecedented turn of events involving the acclaimed coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin.
Two important players—names withheld for privacy—were immediately fired from the squad for kneeling during the playing of the national anthem.
This was not an accurate account of events that happened in real life. The article’s original source is this website, which characterizes its work as comedic or satirical:
Please be aware that some of the content on this website is humorous and is not intended to be taken seriously.
These articles are frequently completely made up and are intended to be amusing. We do not guarantee that the data in these articles is correct or truthful.
The article in question has the word “Satire” prominently displayed at the top of the page. But it’s possible that a large number of people on social media who saw the claim on Facebook or another platform didn’t realize it was satirical. The assertion circulated on Facebook as a screenshot that lacked a disclaimer, for instance:
