False claim Mike Tomlin banned team from Pride Month activities | Fact check
The claim: NFL coach Mike Tomlin directed team not to participate in Pride Month activities
A June 10 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a picture of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin alongside a photo of people carrying rainbow flags in a parade.
"In a move that shocked both the sports community and society, Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin directed his team not to participate in Pride Month activities, Tomlin said: 'We are here to play football not to participate in social or political movements and it has no place in our group activities,'" reads the post's caption.
The post was shared more than 260 times in two days.
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Our rating: False
The claim originated as satire. There are no credible news reports that Tomlin directed his players to avoid Pride Month activities.
Claim originated on satirical page
Communities across the U.S. celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month in June, but there are no credible news reports that Tomlin directed his team to not participate in Pride activities.
The caption in the Facebook post matches portions of a satirical article posted by Esspots on June 7, with only minor differences in phrasing. On its "About Us" page, Esspots describes itself as being "dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire."
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The Facebook page SpaceX Fanclub also shared a similar post on June 6, labeling it as satire and including a link to the Esspots article in the comments section.
The June 10 Facebook post does not indicate the claim's satirical origin, however. And comments on the post indicated many users took it as real.
It's an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where posts created as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.
The Steelers signed Tomlin to a three-year extension on June 10, keeping him under contract through the 2027 season, Reuters reported.
The Facebook user who shared the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Snopes also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Esspots, accessed June 12, About us
SpaceX Fanclub, June 6, Facebook post
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Steelers coach did not ban Pride Month activity | Fact check