Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick shared the video of his first Nike ad Wednesday, which will run as part of a newly announced campaign starring the athlete.
“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt,” Kaepernick wrote in his tweet.
{mosads}“If people say you dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do, good. Stay that way,” Kaepernick says in a voiceover running throughout the ad. “Because what nonbelievers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.”
The ad, which clocks in at just more than 2 minutes, features Kaepernick pointing to a variety of people across different ages who overcame hurdles to succeed in sports. It was released a day before the National Football League season is due to start.
The people featured include professional athletes such as Charlie Jabaley, who completed an Ironman after losing 300 pounds and recovering from brain cancer, as well as soccer player Alphonso Davies, who moved to Canada from a refugee camp and joined the national team at age 16.
The video also features appearances by NBA superstar LeBron James, who voiced support for the Nike ads on Tuesday, as well as tennis player Serena Williams, among other athletes.
“So don’t ask if your dreams are crazy,” Kaepernick says as the ad closes. “Ask if they’re crazy enough.”
Nike’s decision to make Kaepernick the face of their Just Do It campaign earlier this week was met with controversy.
Kaepernick became a point of national division when he started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, an act that has led to strong criticism from President Trump and other conservatives.
Trump ripped into Nike and Kaepernick for their decision to collaborate on an ad campaign.
“I think it’s a terrible message that they’re sending and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there’s a reason for them doing it,” Trump told The Daily Caller in an interview Tuesday. “But I think as far as sending a message, I think it’s a terrible message and a message that shouldn’t be sent. There’s no reason for it.”
But LeBron James and former CIA Director John Brennan have supported Kaepernick.
Brennan tweeted Monday that Kaepernick drew the nation’s attention to a national problem of racial injustice.
James said Tuesday that he supports Nike and “anybody who believes in change.”
Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL, alleging the league’s owners colluded to keep him out, in a case that is set to go to trial.