{"id":376697,"date":"2018-09-09T19:40:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-09T18:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/army-vet-launches-t-shirts-with-patriotic-message-for-kaepernick-nike-rt-us-news\/"},"modified":"2018-09-09T19:40:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-09T18:40:42","slug":"army-vet-launches-t-shirts-with-patriotic-message-for-kaepernick-nike-rt-us-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/army-vet-launches-t-shirts-with-patriotic-message-for-kaepernick-nike-rt-us-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Army vet launches t-shirts with \u2018patriotic\u2019 message for Kaepernick &#038; Nike \u2014 RT US News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2018.09\/thumbnail\/5b955251dda4c8fb798b45f0.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>        A clothing company founded by US veterans has responded to Nike\u2019s collaboration with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick by launching a limited edition of \u2018Just Stand\u2019 t-shirts.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Nine Line Apparel introduced the new line in direct response to sports clothing brand Nike\u2019s decision to use Kaepernick, who sparked a wave of hugely divisive NFL national anthem protests in 2016, as the new face of its iconic \u2018Just Do It\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Based in Savannah, Georgia, the company which describes itself as <em>\u201crelentlessly patriotic\u201d<\/em> is selling a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ninelineapparel.com\/search?q=just+stand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">range<\/a> of \u2018Just stand\u2019 shirts for men, women and children. CEO Tyler Merritt <a href=\"http:\/\/insider.foxnews.com\/2018\/09\/08\/colin-kaepernick-nike-campaign-nine-line-apparel-counters-just-stand-shirt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a> \u2018Fox and Friends\u2019 on Saturday that <em>\u201cthey decided to take a stance. This is our stand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNineLineApparel%2Fposts%2F1782976978467091&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"683\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allow=\"encrypted-media\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt is absolutely absurd that Nike would feature Colin Kaepernick as the focus of their latest ad campaign. He has consistently disrespected our nation\u2019s flag, values, and military by using the unifying moment of the singing of the national anthem to create political division,\u201d<\/em> Merritt told <a href=\"http:\/\/www.savannahnow.com\/news\/20180907\/savannahs-nine-line-apparel-says-just-stand-to-nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Savannah Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Merritt, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ninelineapparel.com\/pages\/about-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">served<\/a> multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan, also took issue with the slogan accompanying Kaepernick\u2019s ad \u2013 <em>\u201dBelieve in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe word \u2018sacrifice\u2019 in the military members, it\u2019s something severe,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n<p>The endorsement deal between Nike and Kaepernick has unsurprisingly proven controversial, prompting some to call for a boycott of the company\u2019s products. Despite the backlash, Nike <a href=\"https:\/\/trends.edison.tech\/research-nike-labor-day-2018.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a> a 31-percent increase in online sales over Labor Day weekend compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/sport\/437596-nike-customers-burn-shoes-kaepernick\/\">READ MORE:#JustBurnIt: Furious Nike customers destroy sports gear over Kaepernick ad (VIDEOS)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kaepernick made the decision to kneel during the national anthem at NFL games in 2016 to highlight police brutality and racial inequality in the US. However, many Americans branded the protest as disrespectful to the country and to those who have served in the military.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/sport\/437596-nike-customers-burn-shoes-kaepernick\/\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Kaepernick has been without a club since opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers in March of last year. He is currently taking a case against NFL owners over alleged collusion not to sign him due to his social activism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/usa\/438012-nike-kaepernick-veteran-shirts\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=RSS\">RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A clothing company founded by US veterans has responded to Nike\u2019s collaboration with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick by launching a limited edition of \u2018Just Stand\u2019 t-shirts. Nine Line Apparel introduced the new line in direct response to sports clothing brand Nike\u2019s decision to use Kaepernick, who sparked a wave of hugely divisive NFL national [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":376698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-376697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}