A billboard on top of a Nike store features the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick at Union Square.CreditCreditEric Risberg/Associated Press

Hunkering down in its support of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick with derision from Trump and threats of a boycott, NIKE released a two-minute commercial narrated by him on Wednesday. NIKE also announced plans to run the ad on the NFL's first broadcast of the regular season.

The ad, called “Dream Crazy,” features Mr. Kaepernick and other star athletes in the Nike stable, including Serena Williams and LeBron James. It implores viewers to dream big, using the inspiring stories of those stars and of everyday weekend warriors who overcame illness or disability to triumph athletically. The emphasis on disabled and physically-impaired athletes is given huge exposure in the uplifting, American moxie, 'Just Do It' 30th anniversary commercial.

Greg Hughes, a spokesman for NBC Sports, confirmed to the New York Times that Nike had purchased airtime on Thursday’s N.F.L. game. The commercial is a shorter, 90-second version of this ad released digitally Wednesday. The league did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nike is a major partner of the N.F.L.’s, providing the uniforms for all 32 teams and the clothing worn by everybody on an N.F.L. sideline.

Last week, NFL Leage/player arbitrator Stephen Burbank ruled that Colin Kaepernick's NFL collusion case will proceed to an arbitration trial, overseen by him. It's also likely that the taking-a-knee football playing activist will not throw another touchdown in pro football.

Writing for The Daily Beast, Corbin Smith says that Kaep's taking a knee in protest of police brutality inflicted on black people "drove some people crazy, presumably because they have never been exposed to the idea that a silent, non-disruptive protest against an institution you think is committing grave injustices might be kind of a good idea if you were trying to shed light on those injustices."

NIKE has kept Kaepernick on its payroll, watching for the resolution of his fight with the NFL. And now -- when the quarterback is probably benched for good in the NFL -- "Nike has decided that… they don’t give a shit! Kaep will have a product line, he will get paid millions of dollars a year, and he will be a public-facing athlete for Nike, even though he is not currently working as an athlete. Truly spectacular stuff.," writes Smith.

Think of Muhammad Ali in exile from boxing. Think of black pride and all the white folks supporting Kaepernick's activism. Think of the growing multitudes of Americans so sick of Trump and his white nationalism that they are rallying for Keap and NIKE for suporting him.

NIKE remains a big corporation with its stockholders front and center. Profit is job #1. But NIKE knows the mood of younger people of every skin color. Think the Parkland kids and how they've build a national network around voter registration, with a special emphasis on the innter cities.

Trump is threatening to bring progressives to our knees, but we are in revolt. Campaigns like NIKE's 'Dream Crazy' remind us to Just Do It! Just Fu***ng Do It: VOTE, PROTEST, READ, WRITE, MARCH . . . HANG TOUGH!

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