A.G. Gancarski
The University of Florida and Florida State University are bitter rivals, but their jerseys in this weekend’s football games both bore the same logo: the iconic Nike swoosh.
Nike was not a controversial manufacturer for most fans until this weekend, when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took center stage in the athletic gear giant’s latest ad campaign.
“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” reads the slogan.
The former franchise quarterback seems to have scuttled his athletic prime by choosing to kneel during the national anthem (hence, “sacrificing everything.”)
Many on the right have excoriated Nike for the sponsorship deal. However, Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday took a more pragmatic approach, noting that in-state universities will have to decide how to address the issue on their own.
While Scott “believe[s] everybody ought to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance,” he doesn’t “know much about what Nike is doing.”
“It just happened,” Scott noted. “The schools will look at that on their own.”
