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A viral list purportedly cataloging the NFL's history on freedom of speech issues has been bouncing around the internet since at least September 2017: We have not been able to determine the author of this list. It is frequently shared as a block of text on online forums, and has also been printed in the letters to the editor sections of various newspapers: The list first started circulating in the wake of a league-wide demonstration on 24 September 2017, when more than 200 fooball players, coaches, and owners knelt or locked arms on the field in response to remarks made by President Donald Trump about peaceful protests by players during the U.S. national anthem: Outlets such as the New York Post published op-eds arguing that the NFL has a double standard when it comes to freedom of speech issues as they seemingly supported these player's rights to protest but had previously fined players for voicing support of other causes. An article in the conservative Daily Wire blog entitled, NFL's Free Speech: Kneeling For The Anthem Is Fine, But Fighting Breast Cancer And Domestic Violence? Shut Up even mentioned several of the items that would be later included on this list: (It should be noted here that although the NFL briefly showed support in 2017 for the players protesting police brutality and social injustice during the National Anthem, the league announced that players would be required to stand if they are on the field during the National Anthem in 2018.) However, a major flaw in the argument is that every item on the NFL's Free Speech History list deals with a violation of the league's unusually strict strict uniform policy, while the kneeling protests during the National Anthem do not. Regardless, here are the facts behind the items on this viral list. In 2012, the NFL had an issue with Tim Tebow kneeling for each game to pray and wearing Bible verse messages. Mixture. Although kneeling before football games has become associated with a form of protest, that wasn't the case when Tim Tebow was an active member of the National Football League. Tebow, like many NFL players, would frequently kneel in prayer before games or after big plays. We found no record of the NFL having any issues with Tebow's kneeling, and as it was a common occurrence among players across the league, we doubt that they ever did. The league did prevent Tebow from wearing John 3:16 on his eye black, but the league wasn't specifically singling out the quarterback or his religious beliefs. The league has a longstanding rule against modifying uniforms and prohibits players from marking themselves with personal statements: The NFL rulebook contains more than five pages of conditions, and it has been criticized by a number of outlets for being unnecessarily strict. Regardless, the NFL does not allow players to convey personal messages via any part of their uniforms: In October 2013, the NFL fined Brandon Marshall for wearing green cleats to raise awareness for people with mental health disorders. True. Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall was fined $10,500 by the NFL for violating its uniform policy after he wore green shoes during a game against the New York Giants: Marshall was fined again (this time for $15,000) later that season for wearing orange cleats. In 2014, Robert Griffin III entered a post-game press conference wearing a shirt that said: Know Jesus Know Peace but was forced to turn it inside out before speaking at the podium. Mixture. There was an incident in 2014, but the list misreports what actually happened. As mentioned, the NFL has a very strict uniform policy that not only covers what the players wear on the field, but also what they wear during pre- and post-game activities. When Griffin entered this post-game conference in September 2014 he was wearing a shirt which read Know Jesus Know Peace. However, he turned this shirt inside out before he reached the podium. A number of outlets reported at the time that the NFL had forced him to turn his shirt inside out. The story was even further exaggerated by outlets who argued that this incident showed that the NFL was anti-religion. Both of these assertions, however, are incorrect. A Redskins spokesperson at the time said that Griffin did it voluntarily to avoid a potential fine. Although this shirt may have violated the league's rules on personal messages, the Washington Post noted that the shirt also contained an unapproved logo. Griffin, who had previously been fined twice by the NFL for wearing a non-approved logo on game days, would have normally changed into his post-game (and league-approved) attire before the press conference, but the quarterback was dealing with an injury at the time and decided to wear an informal (and not approved) outfit to the conference: In 2015, DeAngelo Williams was fined for wearing Find the Cure eye black for breast cancer awareness. True. DeAngelo Williams was another play who ran afoul of the NFL's uniform policies. In 2015, he was fined for wearing pink in support of of breast cancer awareness: In 2015, William Gay was fined for wearing purple cleats to raise awareness for domestic violence. True. William Gay was also fined by the NFL for breaking the league's uniform policy. The Pittsburgh Steelers safety was fined $,5787 (the same amount as Williams) after he wore purple cleats: In 2016, the NFL prevented Dallas Cowboys players wearing decals on their helmets to honor five Dallas police officers killed in the line of duty. True. As should be abundantly clear by now, the National Football League doesn't often make exceptions to its dress code policy. In fact, when news outlets reported that the league was preventing the Dallas Cowboys from wearing decals in honor of five officers killed in the line of duty, they noted that decision was unsurprising: In 2016, the NFL threatened to fine players who wanted to wear cleats to commemorate the 15th anniversary of 11 September 2001. Mostly True. The one concession the NFL has made in regards to its uniform policy involved the commemoration of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. Although the league reportedly warned at least one player that altering their uniform for the attack's anniversary would result in fines, the league never actually issued them:
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