The American football quarterback, 30, sparked furious debate in August last year by choosing to kneel when the US national anthem was played before games in protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
Nike describe Kaepernick as “one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation”. But the announcement of his mulit-million-dollar deal with the global sportswear giant to feature close-up images of his face and the words ‘Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything’, has only inflamed the row.
His detractors are enraged at his commercial tie-in with a company that has been accused of using sweatshops to make their goods and accounting schemes to avoid tax. Nike’s stock value took a huge hit when the market opened yesterday morning.
Social media was flooded with images of Nike trainers and clothing being burned in protest, using the hashtag #JustBurnIt.
According to social media analysis site Spredfast, there were more than 800 tweets using the hashtag within a few hours of the deal being announced.
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But supporters claim his peaceful protest should be highlighted once more, and that having felt compelled to opt out of his seven-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers and since going unsigned – leading to allegations he was being deliberately blackballed by NFL owners – Kaepernick is entitled to do as he pleases.
Former CIA director John Brennan wrote on Twitter: “Colin Kaepernick drew our collective attention to the problem of continued racial injustice in America.
“He did so not to disrespect our flag but to give meaning to the words of the preamble of our Constitution – ‘in order to form a more perfect union’. Well done, Colin, well done.”