One ESPN reporter said it best [1]: "Nike clearly listened to the noise, the lovers, the haters, and in the end, decided to go with more Kaepernick." The backlash poured in when Nike unveiled a new "Just Do It" campaign [2] featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick earlier this week, but the brand has our praise as it's standing behind the activist and his relentless dreams [3]. On Wednesday, Nike released the first full video of the campaign, which celebrates its 30th anniversary and spotlights Colin and other superstar athletes who never let opposition stand in their paths [4] to greatness.
"If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do — good, stay that way," Colin narrates in the video [5]. "Because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it's a compliment."
The video features unique athletes with different stories, abilities, and identities, yet all with equally large impacts on the world. From one-handed NFL player Shaquem Griffin to Alphonso Davies, a refugee who played for the Canadian men's national soccer team at 16 years old, and LeBron James, who took his legacy as "the best basketball player on the planet" and became "bigger than basketball," the ad shows that nothing is more powerful than a person with a dream [6].
Colin has been a member of the Nike team since 2011, and the brand continued to represent him after activism brought his NFL career to a halt. His campaign with Nike and its slogan — "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything" — epitomizes how his kneeling during the national anthem [7] to peacefully protest police brutality may have lost him his team, but Colin is not giving up [8], and this campaign speaks volumes to that. Watch the empowering video above, and remember, "Don't ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they're crazy enough."
