Nike nearly dropped Colin Kaepernick before putting him in its anniversary ads
September 27, 2018 at 05:56 AM EDT
Kaepernick was unemployed after leaving the San Francisco 49ers at the end of the 2016 season, having made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem in protest against police brutality towards African-Americans in the U.S., a move that other players replicated. In summer 2017, Nike executives debated dropping their sponsorship, the Times reported. Kaepernick didn't have a team and keeping him on its roster could diminish its relationship with the NFL, of which Nike is a partner.