NFL

Shockingly, The NFL Is Not Happy Robert Griffin III Went To Hilarious Lengths To Cover Up A Nike Logo On His Shirt

Robert Griffin III has a well-publicized deal with adidas. The NFL has a new, well-publicized apparel deal with Nike. That means at any moment when he’s on the field, Griffin will be wearing attire sporting a logo different from that of the company paying him big bucks, which might make said big-bucks-paying company unhappy. So, before his (spectacular) NFL regular-season debut, RGIII took matters into his own hands:

Sure, it says “HEART,” but this plan: that’s brains. That’s downright gumption. And it’s also hard not to laugh at. Look at that H. That’s not even an H. That’s a finish line at a marathon. That almost looks more like a hurdle than an H (and of course, given Griffin’s other sport, that would be fitting). In case you’re wondering whether the NFL found the same humor value in this the rest of us did, though, the answer is a rather definitive no:

Griffin won’t likely be fined because the shirt was only visible before pregame warmups, but NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN.com that league officials would talk to him.

“It won’t happen again,” McCarthy said.

That’s… threatening. And the irony here is that, if anything, Griffin’s attempt to cover up the swoosh (and the other thing we love is how entirely unsuccessful he was in doing so; it’s almost like he did it as a parody) drew even more attention to it. There’s a decent chance that at least one person who didn’t know Nike is the official manufacturer of NFL apparel knows now because of this flap. Something tells us, though, that if Griffin pointed this out to the NFL, the league (and Nike, for that matter) would not be placated.

And RGIII isn’t even the only athlete to have a weird sponsorship moment over the last few days – Andy Murray spent a panicked moment after his breakthrough U.S. Open win last night panicked… because he couldn’t find the watch he was supposed to wear while holding the trophy per the details of a sponsorship deal. Poor Andy – hardly even gets a minute to enjoy the biggest win of his career. He’ll enjoy the fruits of that deal, though – it’s reportedly for several million dollars, so it’s not that weird he’d be worried about making them happy.

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