Such is the case with the Michael Vick/Nike "endorsement" story, first broken by ESPN "news services".
Michael Vick is back with Nike two years after the company severed ties over the quarterback's involvement in a dogfighting ring.
"Mike has a long-standing, great relationship with Nike, and he looks forward to continuing that relationship," his agent, Joel Segal, said Wednesday.
Today however, Nike flags Vick's agent for a false start:
"Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick. We have agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike," the company said in a statement.Which seems more likely to me, considering that Vick has yet to make any impact in the league, or show any sign that he's going to become the impact starting quarterback he once had the potential to be.
Fair or not, Vick is toxic right now to a company from a PR standpoint. Yes, he's back in the league and deserves to make a living, but endorsement deals are viewed by the public as a different deal altogether. If Nike jumps right back onto the Vick bandwagon then the PR hit could be immense. The term: "soulless corporation" comes to mind. NO ONE on Madison Ave. wants to have to market around that tag.
I don't care how talented Vick is.
As for ESPN? I love their actual sports coverage, as I feel they always do a good job producing the actual events. When it comes to pure analysis however there are many other outlets who are doing it better, and with less self-promotion. Where the NFL is concerned there's also better coverage to be found that doesn't involve the analysts performing on-air oral sex to Brett Favre everytime the latter throws a pass that's not intercepted.