During warmups before his first NFL game, Robert Griffin III showed his loyalty to Adidas by covering up the swoosh on his undershirt with the word "heart" (see below). Well, despite assurances from the NFL that "it won't happen again," RG3 hasn't learned his lesson, and may be challenging the NFL's supremacy.
During warmups this past weekend, Griffin III wore a grey t-shirt without any visible brand markings (see at right).
Is this a Nike shirt sans logo? Or is it possible that RG3 got permission to wear an unbranded shirt? That would seem unlikely. Nike isn't going to spend millions of dollars to be the sole apparel provider of the NFL and then provide apparel without their signature swoosh. And the NFL isn't going compromise with its business partners, by spurning one form of modification for another.
Besides, you can make an argument that the original doctoring was more beneficial to Nike as attention was drawn to the shirt and you could still see the swoosh.
All of this shows us that RG3 (RGIII if you are Team Adidas) is not about to roll over for the all-mighty NFL and may be ready to go to war over his right to hide the swoosh. Will he win? Few do. But this situation seems like it is going to get uglier before it gets better.
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