On a tip from Ed Kilbane
"Sacrificing what exactly?"
On Tuesday, Taya Kyle, the widow of Navy SEAL hero Chris Kyle, reacted to Nike's new ad campaign featuring former NFL QB and national anthem kneeler Colin Kaepernick. Taya, whose family understands real sacrifice firsthand, slammed the corporation for their widely-criticized claim that Kaepernick somehow "sacrificed everything" by taking a knee.
"Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything," says the Nike ad, laid over a photo of Kaepernick's face.
"Nike, I love your gear, but you exhaust my spirit on this one. Your new ad with Colin Kapernick, I get the message, but that sacrificing everything thing…. It just doesn’t play out here. Sacrificing what exactly? A career?" Taya wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. "I’ve done that both times I chose to stay home and be with my kids instead of continuing my business climb… and it wasn’t sacrificing everything. It was sacrificing one career and some money and it was because of what I believe in and more importantly, who I believe in."
"At best, that is all Colin sacrificed… some money and it’s debatable if he really lost his career over it," she said, adding, "that whole 'sacrificing everything' is insulting to those who really have sacrificed everything."
"You want to talk about someone in the NFL sacrificing everything? Pat Tillman. NFL STARTING, not benched, player who left to join the Army and died for it. THAT is sacrificing everything for something you believe in," argued Taya.
"How about other warriors?" she continued. "Warriors who will not be on magazine covers, who will not get lucrative contracts and millions of followers from their actions and who have truly sacrificed everything. They did it because they believed in something. Take it from me, when I say they sacrificed everything, they also sacrificed the lives of their loved ones who will never be the same. THAT is sacrificing everything for something they believe in."
Chris, a war hero and the real-life subject of the book and film "American Sniper," was murdered in 2013 by a veteran suffering from PTSD he was helping. The decorated SEAL served four tours in the Iraq War and was dubbed the "most lethal sniper in U.S. history." Chris left behind Taya and their two children.
Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT via Getty Images
"Taking a stand, or rather a knee, against the flag which has covered the caskets of so many who actually did sacrifice everything for something they believe in, that we all believe in? Well, the irony of your ad..it almost leaves me speechless. Were you trying to be insulting?" Taya continued.
Taya closed the post by announcing that she'd be taking her business elsewhere. "All I know is, I was actually in the market for some new kicks and at least for now, I’ve never been more grateful for Under Armour."
No comments :
Post a Comment