Before his NFL coming-out party in Week One, Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III obscured the Nike logo on his warmup jersey, turning the swoosh into an “H” and finishing the word “heart” beneath it. Griffin’s gesture flowed from the fact that he has an endorsement deal not with Nike but with adidas.
The story caught an unexpected amount of attention, with the NFL eventually explaining that it would have a conversation with Griffin about concealing the logo of a company that is paying the league a lot of money for the privilege of putting players in its clothing.
Before a Week Two loss to the Rams, Griffin used not tape but a plain gray T-shirt to conceal any Nike trademarks. It seemed like a low-tech, passive-aggressive approach to logo concealment, so we asked NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy about the situation via email on Sunday and, after getting no response, again on Monday.
“No story here,” McCarthy said via email.
We followed with a request for elaboration. Does that mean the logos on warmup gear can be concealed by simply wearing a plain article of clothing on top of it? Or does the NFL simply not want to escalate publicly a potential feud with its hottest young star?
Two days later, no response or explanation has come. So, apparently, it’s OK to cover up the Nike logos with cloth and not tape when on the field before a game. But there’s a chance it’s OK only for Robert Griffin III or players of equivalent notoriety.