Kneeling during the national anthem is front and center again after New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ comments and President Donald Trump’s reaction. On December 20th, 2016, Redditors CountAardvark submitted a post to /r/MemeEconomy speculating that bait-and-switch memes like Manningface go through regular cycles of popularity. The top rumors Snopes readers are checking out right now. It sounds like a massive amount of black NFL players will kneel during the national anthem this upcoming season. On September 10th, 2016, several Redditors posted the photograph in the comments section of post about Manning on /r/funny. It’s a way of criticizing the black football players who have been kneeling during the national anthem and trying to bring the mantle of Christianity into the debate. On October 28th, 2015, Redditor Meistarr submitted a post titled "What is it about the skimask picture?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop, where Redditor kevler9oh replied that the picture circulated on /r/nfl due to "the sheer size of Manning's forehead." On November 30th, a close-up version of the photo was uploaded to Imgur, where it gained over 5.8 million views over the next 14 months. So apparently this meme has been circulating some circles on the internet: stand for the flag kneel for the cross. On November 2nd, a Redditor linked to the hooded photograph in a bait-and-switch post on the /r/nfl subreddit.
On September 4th, Redditor TobyTarazan asked about the origin of the photo on /r/OutOfTheLoop, to which Redditor Kijafa described it as a "bait and switch gag." The photo was subsequently added as "Manningface" on the /r/OutOfTheLoop Wiki. That a gesture on an NFL football field would emerge as a cultural touchstone is simultaneously predictable. On February 4th, 2014, Redditor throwawayx505 submitted a post asking "What's up with this picture of Peyton Manning?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop, to which Redditor livefreeordont replied with a link to the original /r/nfl thread. Tebows signature kneel had become an iconic meme.