Adidas is champing at the bit, just waiting to sponsor Colin Kaepernick if and when he signs an NFL contract.
In an interview last week, the president of the company’s North American division described Kaepernick’s activism, which has included kneeling for the national anthem and wearing socks that depict policemen as pigs, in glowing terms as “mak[ing] the world a better place.”
Mark King also said that Adidas isn’t a political brand.
“We love athletes that have a platform to make the world a better place,” Mr. King said during a question-and-answer session in Phoenix, according to the Arizona Republic.
“If they’re an activist in a way that brings attention to something that moves the world forward, even if there’s controversy at that moment, we’re really interested in those athletes because I think it represents the world today,” he said.
At Arizona State University’s Global Sports Summit, Mr. King said all Mr. Kaepernick has to do to get a deal with the German-based maker of sports apparel is get a spot on an NFL roster.
But that has proven difficult since he began protesting “The Star-Spangled Banner” two seasons ago and started a movement of NFL players doing so.
He was unsigned last season, which he and his supporters have blamed on collusion among NFL owners. He had a tryout scheduled last week with the Seattle Seahawks, but it fell through, reportedly because he refused to give the team assurances on the anthem protests.
Adidas doesn’t want, Mr. King said, to seem to be “taking advantage of this noise or interest that he had generated.”
But “if he signs on a team, we would definitely want to sign him,” he said.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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