Taya Kyle, widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, tore into Nike and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Tuesday over what it actually means to make a sacrifice.
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Her comments, spelled out in a Facebook post, came after Kaepernick and Nike announced a new campaign to promote the shoe brand, in which the controversial athlete invoked the idea of sacrifice:
Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018
“Sacrificing what exactly? A career?” Taya Kyle wrote. “[A]t best, that is all Colin sacrificed … some money and it’s debatable if he really lost his career over it.”
Taya Kyle, who is a fan of Nike’s products, also called out the “irony” of the fact that Kaepernick likely gained “a lucrative Nike contract” as a result of his new campaign with the Oregon-based company.
She continued:
How about other warriors? 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.
Taya Kyle’s husband, a former U.S. Navy SEAL sniper, served four combat tours in Iraq over his 10-year career in the military and was awarded two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars as a result of his harrowing efforts.
The famed sniper, whose autobiography, “American Sniper,” was turned into a popular movie in 2014, was fatally shot at a gun range in 2013 by a mentally ill former Marine.
Kaepernick gained a lot of attention in 2016, when during a pre-season game as the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers he protested during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” hoping to raise awareness about perceived mistreatment of and violence toward minority citizens in the United States.