"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't."
This is Exhibit C. With the pro football season approaching, and the nationwide discussion on equal justice still active, a couple of memes have popped up suggesting that Tom Brady and John Elway are foursquare against players who kneel during the National Anthem. Brady supposedly will quit if any of his teammates kneel, and Elway, a general manager, will supposedly fire any players who kneel.
As always, it's easy to look up their actual statements on this topic, and while one can speculate on why people don't do their homework before posting memes that confirm their biases, we choose not to do that here.
Regarding this topic, what both men have said in the past has, in fact, been supportive of the protests. So if you changed your allegiances because you thought one or both of these men took a position against protests during the National Anthem, I hope you didn't buy a jersey or anything like that!
Oh, and one more thing. Anyone who claims that former NFL QB Tim Tebow was celebrated for kneeling in protest during the National Anthem, implying that the white quarterback was being treated differently than former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, is not telling the truth.
For one thing, he wasn't kneeling in protest of anything - he was praying, and players have been praying before, during, and after games for decades. At the height of his popularity, his prayerful pose became a national fad, and people were posting pictures on social media of themselves "Tebowing." And he didn't pray during the National Anthem, either.
This tactic is called testimonial propaganda, and it appeals to the human desire to have people who are popular embrace our point of view. We should, however, make sure the testimonial is real before sharing it.