By Victoria Jackson | Special to The Washington Post
Traditionally, athletic sponsorship deals go something like this: A shoe company gives an athlete money. In exchange, the athlete suits up in that company’s gear and transforms into a slam dunking, touchdown scoring, buzzer-beating advertisement for its products. No star has filled that role more tidily than Michael Jordan, whose iconic silhouette still adorns Nike’s products more than 15 years after his retirement.
Colin Kaepernick’s recently revealed sponsorship deal with Nike casts aside this simplistic formula and offers a new path forward for athletes and the shoe companies that sponsor them.