One NFL Team Refused To Acknowledge Juneteenth

This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

All NFL teams publicly acknowledged Juneteenth on Friday, except for one. 

The Black holiday, celebrated on June 19th, marks the date when a section of slaves found out that slavery had been abolished in America. 

The NFL officially recognized it as a holiday in 2020.

“It is a day to reflect on our past, but more importantly, consider how each one of us can continue to show up and band together to work toward a better future,” commissioner Roger Goodell announced back then. 

31 NFL teams acknowledged it on Friday, with the Detroit Lions the only one not to. 

Detroit Lions’ Refusal To Acknowledge Juneteenth Branded “Weird”

FOX News suggested that the silence was strange, as the Lions usually recognize such causes. 

“The one NFL team that did not acknowledge Juneteenth on Friday was the Detroit Lions. This is a weird one. The Lions are not typically a team that flies counter to recognizing social justice causes. Indeed, the club changed its logo during Pride Month by painting its lion in rainbow colors as a tip of the proverbial cap to the LGBTQ community,” the outlet noted.

While the Lions were the only NFL team to ignore the holiday, the NHL did as a whole.

The league’s social media accounts didn’t publish any posts in reference to Juneteenth. It meant they were the only major American sports tier to forgo any acknowledgment.