Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce wasn’t fined, ejected for kneeling during national anthem

The NFL’s regular season doesn’t start until Sept. 5, when the Kansas City Chiefs play the Baltimore Ravens. But a recent Facebook post claims Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has already been kicked off the field.

"Travis Kelce kneels during national anthem fined $10 million and thrown out of the game," reads text in an image of Kelce kneeling.

The Aug. 19 post featuring the image said, "Travis Kelce took a knee during the national anthem, a move that cost him a staggering $10 million fine and an immediate ejection from the game." 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The Kelce photo is old; it was taken in August 2018 during training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. A photo caption on Getty Images’ website says the photo shows Kelce as he "kneels on the sidelines during training camp." 

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Kelce has kneeled during the national anthem before. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, then a San Francisco 49ers quarterback, started sitting and then taking a knee during the anthem to protest the treatment of Black Americans after several unarmed Black men had been shot that summer. Then, in 2017, Kelce "followed Colin Kaepernick’s lead and took a knee during the pre-game national anthem ceremony in support of teammates who were protesting racist police brutality," The Guardian reported. 

But the claim that Kelce was fined $10 million for taking a knee and expelled from a game originated in 2023 on a satire site.

We found no evidence, such as credible news stories or NFL statements, that any such thing happened. 

We rate claims it did False.