Fact Check: No, Minnesota Vikings Didn't Denounce Walz

Claim:

The Minnesota Vikings denounced their state's governor, Tim Walz, and said: "We don't support his values."

Rating:

Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )

A rumor that the Minnesota Vikings football team denounced their state's governor, Tim Walz , circulated widely online in early September 2024. According to posts sharing the claim, the NFL franchise in the North Star State said: "We don't support his values."

One user sharing the rumor said ( archived ): " Great. Walz he doesn't have any values." Another person posted ( archived ) to friends: "Is it true the Minnesota Vikings has come out against 'Tampon Tim Walz' also?" That user's post referenced a mostly false rumor claiming the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee signed a bill that required schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms.

Other readers also seemed to interpret the claim as a factual recounting of real-life events, such as this user ( archived ), who tagged a friend and said of the news: "Go Vikings!!!"

However, there was no evidence the Vikings denounced Walz. Likewise, no credible news outlets reported such a claim.

Rather, the rumor originated with a post from America - Love It Or Leave It — a Facebook page under the umbrella of the America's Last Line of Defense network of humor and satire. The Facebook page's category mentioned both satire and parody and displayed the description: "A subsidiary of the America's Last Line of Defense network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real."

The fictional story spread at the start of the new NFL season, just as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Walz, continued on the campaign trail ahead of the November presidential election .

Snopes has addressed other claims about the Vikings in past years, including the assertion that the team opened its U.S. Bank Stadium to the homeless on a frigid night in December 2016, and one that said the stadium planned to switch to plant-based meat and dairy-free alternatives .

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.

Sources:

Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "Tim Walz Signed Bill Requiring Tampons in Boys' Bathrooms?" Snopes , 12 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/tim-walz-tampons/ .