Detroit Lions Are The Only NFL Team Not To Post About Juneteenth Despite Promoting Pride Month Gear
Every other NFL team posted something. The Detroit Lions did not, despite painting their logo in rainbow colours for Pride Month and promoting their Pride apparel collection just weeks earlier.
Friday's Juneteenth holiday was marked across nearly every major professional sports league and team in the United States. The Detroit Lions were the one notable exception in the NFL, the only one of the league's 32 teams that did not post any acknowledgment of the federal holiday on their social media accounts.
The omission stood out specifically because of what the Lions had done weeks earlier. At the start of June, the team posted about Pride Month, writing: "June is Pride Month! The Lions proudly celebrate, honor, and recognize the strength and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. We welcome everyone to the game of football." The team also changed its logo, painting the lion in rainbow colours, and promoted a dedicated Pride Month apparel collection. Three weeks later, the same accounts had nothing to say about Juneteenth.
A Pattern That Crosses Multiple Leagues
The Lions were not alone in skipping a major social recognition moment this month, though they were the only NFL team to do so on Juneteenth specifically. The NHL's social media accounts were also silent on the holiday, making it the only major professional sports league in the country that did not recognise the day, even as the NBA and MLB joined the NFL in acknowledging it across their league and team accounts.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and has been a federal holiday since June 2021, when President Joe Biden signed it into law. Donald Trump had campaigned in 2020 to institute Juneteenth as a holiday before losing that year's election.
Why the Contrast Has Drawn Attention
The Lions have not historically positioned themselves as a franchise that avoids social and cultural recognition moments. Their willingness to promote Pride Month publicly, including the logo change and the merchandise push, makes the absence of any Juneteenth post a noticeable departure from how other teams across the league handled the same weekend. No explanation has been offered publicly by the organisation for the gap.
The Lions are coming off one of their most successful seasons in franchise history and remain one of the more closely watched teams heading into next season, both on the field and in how the organisation positions itself off it. For now, the silence on Friday is the story being discussed, not anything that happened at Allen Park.