Cameron Jordan Among Four Saints Who Attended Rally Protesting Kenner, Louisiana's Nike Ban
On Monday, four members of the New Orleans Saints attended a rally in Kenner, La. to protest Mayor Ben Zahn's decision to ban booster clubs at all of the city's recreational facilities from purchasing Nike products, according to Hanna Krueger of The Times-Picayune.
Terron Armstead, Chris Banjo, Cameron Jordan and Craig Robertson came to the "Unity in Community" rally in response to a memo dated Sept. 5. In the memo, Zahn says, "all purchases made by any booster club operating at any Kenner Recreational Facility for wearing apparel, shoes, athletic equipment, and/or any athletic product must be approved by the Director of Parks and Recreation," and "Under no circumstances will any Nike product or any product with the Nike logo be purchased for use or delivery at any" of the city's recreational facilities.
"It didn't seem real to me," Armstead told reporters Monday about the ban. "I don't know how you can ban a product to a whole community based on personal whatever, but I'm just here to support the people."
The ban was a response to Nike's recent ads featuring Colin Kaepernick as part of the company's 30th anniversary of its "Just Do It" campaign.
Jordan told reporters he plays pick-up basketball at Kenner recreation facilities and the ban is "directly affecting the community," so he and his teammates wanted to show up to "understand exactly what's going on and how the people feel about" the situation.
Kenner isn't the only place where action has been taken to distance from Nike after its decision to start using Kaepernick again in ads. The College of the Ozarks in Missouri said it will no longer wear Nike uniforms because it "believes Nike executives are promoting an attitude of division and disrespect toward America."
