# What happened to all the "John 3:16" signs at sporting events

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-all-the-john-3-16-signs-at-sporting-events/174511>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 11, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-all-the-john-3-16-signs-at-sporting-events/174511 "2003-05-11T16:37:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KenP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c0e974/32.png) [@KenP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KenP)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-all-the-john-3-16-signs-at-sporting-events/174511/1 "2003-05-11T16:37:49Z")

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A few years ago, a major league baseball game was incomplete without a fan sitting behind home plate with a “John 3:16” sign. Now they’re all gone. What happened? Did they lose interest and move on to some other activity, or did major league baseball get stricter about signs, or what?

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**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-all-the-john-3-16-signs-at-sporting-events/174511/2 "2003-05-11T16:57:03Z")

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Are you talking about Rock 'n Rollen? If so, this is what Cecil says:

- [What’s with those “John 3:16” signs that people hold up at football games?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_186.html)
- [Is the guy who held up those “John 3:16” signs at sports events in jail for life?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971107.html)

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**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-all-the-john-3-16-signs-at-sporting-events/174511/3 "2003-05-11T17:01:10Z")

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The bloke is the subject of two columns by Cecil: [What’s with those “John 3:16” signs that people hold up at football games? (1987)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_186.html) and [Is the guy who held up those “John 3:16” signs at sports events in jail for life? (1997)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971107.html). I dunno whether there were others, or whether they have lost interest.