In a somewhat shocking turn of events from how things were going for Pride Month even last year, a whopping 11 teams in the NFL decided not to post Pride Month messages or change around their logos to rainbow versions of the usual profile picture. While most of the NFL went along with Pride Month and did the usual posting, it was still a large number of teams that didn’t do so.
Such is what Fox News Digital noted, reporting that 21 of the 32 teams in the NFL had posted Pride Month Messages, with those going out to a massive 42 million combined followers. The messages that were posted varied, with some teams, such as the Commanders, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles, posting pride messages and changing their logos to rainbow flag-colored versions, while others just posted a message.
The Washington Commanders said, in a June 1 post that received nearly 6 million views, “Love wins ❤️ Come out for the @CapitalPrideDC Parade & Festival on June 8-9 to celebrate #Pride2024!” Similarly, the Buffalo Bills, in a tweet viewed less than 400,000 times, said, “This Pride month, and always, we’re proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️”
Other teams were even more into the month. The Vikings changed the banner of their X account and their profile picture to rainbow versions, then posted about the month as well. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t post a tweet about the month, though they did change their profile picture to a rainbow version of the logo.
But other teams declined entirely to participate. In the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons, all declined to post Pride messages on their X accounts.
However, while the Detroit Lions did not post a message that was directly about Pride Month in the same mold as the Commanders and Vikings, they did post about a special line of Pride-themed apparel that they are selling for the month, saying, “Our special-edition Detroit Lions Pride Month apparel collection is live! #OnePridewithPride.” So, really, it is more like the Lions posted about the month and are off the list.
That non-participation rate wasn’t evenly distributed across the country. In the AFC East and NFC North, all teams posted topical statements on the month. But on the other hand, the AFC North, which is comprised of the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers, saw only the Baltimore post about the month and every other team remain silent. The other regions had more even splits.
Conservatives on X were generally in support of those teams that decided to stay silent over the first weekend of Pride Month, saying things like the idea that equality means being treated equally rather than having messages about it take over social media posts for an entire month. Similarly, Fox News Digital noted that this is a large change and reflects the growing divide in America on social matters.