Three NFL Teams Roasted for Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Columbus Day, While No Team Even Mentioned It

No NFL Team Acknowledged Christopher Columbus on Social Media for the Federal Holiday, as Three Teams Honored Indigenous Peoples’ Day Instead

President Trump has called for the return of the Christopher Columbus statue to Ohio's capital

President Donald Trump has asked Columbus, Ohio to restore its Christopher Columbus statue immediately. He points to the White House's efforts to preserve history as cities across the country grapple with restoring derelict monuments.

Christopher Columbus gets absolutely no love from the NFL.

It's fair to say that since the federal holiday honoring Christopher Columbus and his place in American history, neither an NFL team nor the league itself recognized Columbus Day on social media.

For at least the second year in a row, no NFL team has mentioned Columbus Day, even as non-essential federal offices, federal courts, mail delivery, most traditional banks and the U.S. bond market are closed for the holiday.

The June celebration was held among the major leagues and professional sports teams — with two notable exceptions

And it feels like a statement for two reasons:

First, the three teams chose the day to instead recognize Native People's Day, which is not a federal holiday, while ignoring the one whose landing in America in 1492 marks a federal holiday.

The NFL's main social media accounts went silent on Pride Month on its first day.

Second, 29 teams that would normally take the opportunity to celebrate almost every other holiday and some days that aren't holidays at all decided to go completely dark on this one.

Which shows the teams recognize that the day has become something of a political hot potato. And the NFL and most of its teams have decided not to burn.

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This does not apply to the Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams. All three paid tribute to Indigenous Peoples Day on their social media.

But the outcry came at a cost as the responses to each post were met with considerable backlash.

The Chiefs plan to add the famous spear logo to the helmet while rejecting its obvious reference to Redskins history.

All three teams that posted about Indigenous Peoples Day received immediate corrections to their responses, calling it Columbus Day.

But there were other clever responses, particularly on the Vikings account, failing to realize that the team was nicknamed White, Conquering Foreigners.

"Vikings were known for pillaging, raping, massacring, burning and enslaving their victims," responded one fan in the Minnesota Post. They terrorized innocent people in coastal communities, including monasteries, for centuries, even killing and enslaving women and children on a large scale.

The presidents celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day to "show appreciation for the work the American Indian Community Task Force does to make sure we remain educated and honor the tribes with a historic connection to our region."

It's interesting, except for Native Americans, the echo chamber is not a block of people with just one opinion.

"I'm a Cherokee Indian and I'm upset you don't call it Columbus Day," one fan replied.

The Rams played on Monday, but before that, they sent their congratulations on Indigenous Peoples Day. The team, located in a liberal city and state, received significant feedback.

"Only liberals hate immigrants," one fan posted Christopher Columbus.

Can you understand why the vast majority of teams avoided the holidays altogether?

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, recently issued a proclamation on Columbus Day 2026 calling Columbus "a legend whose vision, perseverance and perseverance created a dynamic in history that led to the creation of the greatest, freest and most just nation in history."

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There are probably people who believe this political football represents Republicans who make Columbus Day racist and Democrats who promote Indigenous Peoples Day as intellectuals.

Except for the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which resulted in the forced relocation of approximately 100,000 Native Americans, including along the Cherokee Trail of Tears, signed by Andrew Jackson—a Democrat.

and Columbus Day in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was established to celebrate the arrival of Columbus in the Americas on October 12, 1492.

Armando Salguero is the senior writer for NFL OutKick.