NFL Anthem Singer Changes One Word of 'La Marseillaise' at the Paris Game, and OutKick Says France Is Angry

A singer changed a line of France's national anthem before an NFL game in Paris, and OutKick says it has drawn a wave of backlash, Fox News reports.

What happened. Before the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the New Orleans Saints at the Stade de France on Sunday, Nina Tonji sang "La Marseillaise." She changed "Qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons" ("May impure blood water our furrows") to "Qu'un sang uni abreuve nos sillons," or "united blood." OutKick says she got a warm round of applause in the stadium.

Why it matters. In the revolutionary-era song, OutKick explains, "impure blood" meant enemies and traitors, and the new word shifts the line toward unity that includes immigrants. The column calls the change deliberate and says it lands as people in France are on edge over immigration after two weeks of unrest in which, it says, some protesters were immigrants.

The reaction. OutKick says big French accounts posted the performance, among them Cerfia with 1.3 million followers and RMC Sport with 2.7 million, which said the change caused "confusion." It describes the replies as mostly harsh, with the words "scandal" and "disrespectful." It notes that Tonji was born in Montreal.

The column's argument. Salguero says the league, which can refuse acts, should make performers sign binding contracts to sing songs as written: "interpret all you want," but "don't alter lyrics to suit a personal agenda or feeling. Because that makes you an activist."

Note for readers: this is a sports column with a clear point of view. The claim of a deliberate message is the writer's inference, and the piece includes no comment from Tonji, the NFL or French officials. Its sample of replies is social media, not a poll, and we cannot say how widespread the anger is. We did not hear the performance.