Colin Kaepernick has a new contract with Nike, but he won’t just be lining his own pockets.
A source familiar with the new contract (which hasn’t been formally announced by Nike yet) told The Associated Press that the deal includes an apparel line for Kaepernick and a contribution to his charity, Know Your Rights. It also puts him “in the top bracket of NFL players with Nike,” even though he isn’t currently playing for the NFL.
Know Your Rights is a campaign to raise awareness of “higher education, self empowerment, and instruction to properly interact with law enforcement in various scenarios.” So far, the organization has run workshops in four U.S. Cities to educate people about their rights, which it asserts in 10 points, including the rights to be free, healthy, brilliant, alive, and trusted. The campaign is entirely funded by the Colin Kaepernick Foundation, which aims “to fight oppression of all kinds globally, through education and social activism.”
With the new contract and ad campaign, a not-so-subtle nod to Kaepernick’s on-field protest against racism and police brutality and the NFL’s alleged collusion to keep him out of the game that followed, Nike (NKE) has taken sides in a national controversy that goes all the way to the White House.
Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoItpic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018
But not all brands have been willing to so openly support Kaepernick and his cause. Madden NFL 18censored Kaepernick’s name out of a song lyric. An early release of Madden NFL 19 did as well, but it has now been restored to the game. Madden said the censorship was an error based on a misunderstanding over the legal use of Kaepernick’s name.