Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has criticized Nike for signing an endorsement deal with football player Colin Kaepernick and said he won’t buy the products made by the Oregon-based company.
Back in 2016, when he played for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick started a wave of protests about police brutality, racial inequality and other social issues among NFL players. Kaepernick didn’t stand up and, instead, stood on his kneel when the national anthem was played at football games.
Patrick said in a Facebook post the majority of Nike’s customers stand for the National Anthem, and added: “No more Nike at my house.”
The Lieutenant Governor wasn’t the only one who criticized the deal. On Twitter, country music star John Rich posted a picture of one of his crew members holding the tops of a cut pair of Nike socks, with the caption: “Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions.” The tweet garnered about 10,000 retweets and 30,000 likes, plus thousands of critical comments.
Rich, part of the duo Big & Rich and a former contestant of President Donald Trump’s reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice,” said he supported the right to protest but Nike lost his support when it endorsed Kaepernick.
Some NFL players, however, showed support for Nike and Kaepernick. Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said: “I hope other corporations follow (Nike’s) example.”
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, tweeted: “Proud to be an @usnikefootball athlete. Stand for something or fall for anything. Few moments in history has that been more true!”
Trump, a frequent critic of protesting NFL players, said Tuesday in an interview with the Daily Caller that he thinks it’s a “terrible message” for Nike to use Kaepernick in ads, but that it’s their decision whether to use the quarterback.