To say Colin Kaepernick's professional football career has been up and down over the years is a bit of an understatement. He has gone from back up to starter, then once more to riding the pine. He has had outstanding games, including 444 yards of total offense and two touchdowns on runs and another two passing against Green Bay in the 2012 post season. However at other times, quite honestly he sucked. In a 2016 game against Chicago he threw for a measly four yards before being benched.
As early as 2014 he proved himself to be a bit of an irritant and rebel. Wikipedia notes that in September of that year the NFL fined him for, "using inappropriate language on the field." What the language exactly was remains unknown to the general public. However, given the hyper-aggressive, barely sane, and sometimes felonious types playing in the league one can easily speculate it was a graphic description of a referee's sexual preferences and history. A month later the NFL fined him once again. This time his offense was wearing Beats by Dre headphones to a post game news conference. The league's official headphones that year were manufactured by Bose. To make sure Kaepernick got the message the bill was $10,000.
Both of those two, "incidents," are small beans compared to what happened later. During the third pre season game in 2016 Colin Kaepernick took a seat on the bench during the playing of The Star Spangled Banner. After the game he told the media, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people are getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and the banshees who follow him immediately went what could best be described as, ape shit.
The next week, after speaking with a veteran, Kaepernick, while continuing his protest, took a knee, rather than a seat, out of what he said was respect to former and current U.S. military members. As right wing outrage grew, other players, both black and white began to follow suit and Anthem protests continue two years later.
All of which brings us to Phil Knight and Nike shoes. Colin Kaepernick has become the latest sports figure to not just endorse Knight's products, but become the front man in TV ads for them. His first one hit TV last Thursday during a football game between Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Donald Trump immediately tweeted, "Just like the NFL whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts."
As always, The Big Orange Guy, has twined together some truth with easily disproved falsehoods. The NFL's TV ratings are down. While the protests may be part of it, the major reason for the slip in viewers probably has more to do with over exposure and the simple fact pro football is an absolute bore to watch, especially when you compare it to the high scoring free for all contests happening in the college game.
On the other hand, while Nike's stock has taken a recent small dip, for the year it has risen 28%. In addition one outside source estimates their online sales of shoes over the Labor Day Holiday (after the Kaepernick ad was announced, but before it was shown) were up 31% from last year.
The other day I spoke with a friend about the spot. I said I thought the ad, which uses the tag line, "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything," was a shot at Trump. In retrospect I was being terribly naive and that assessment was completely wrong. Given the company's history it is fairly obvious Phil Knight and Nike could give a rat's ass about political and social issues. Just ask the kids in places like Indonesia, Vietnam, and China who make the damn shoes.
No, Nike is all about selling their product. And Colin Kaepernick may make a bunch of older, big bellied white Trumpists, not to mention their, Leader, go crazy with rage, but how many of them ever buy Nike products to begin with?
On the other hand just picture all the kids and young adults, particularly the ones of color, who are out there and not only understand where Colin Kaepernick is coming from, but appreciate and agree with his social convictions. They number in the millions and they are, each and every one of them, in the demographic Nike is aiming at.
Hey, who says America isn't great? Sometimes even a company which ruthlessly exploits child labor across the globe can portray themselves as progressive and dare to piss off the fascist crowd--at least as long as it fattens the bottom line.
As for Kaepernick himself? His football career remains in limbo. He is an unsigned free agent and it is doubtful any NFL team will ever hire him. This despite being one of only four QBs in league history to throw for three touchdowns and rush for 100 yards in a single game.
Well, at least for now he knows the Nike checks won't bounce and there is always the Canadian Football League.
One thing is for sure though, what he says in the ad is correct. Sometimes you do sacrifice everything when you stand for something. That's what happens when you make corporate big boys like NFL owners squirm and sweat by forcing them to deal with an issue they'd rather ignore. Not to mention fuck with the racist inclinations of the crazy dude in the White House and his bilious followers.
sic vita est
9-10-18
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