NFL sponsor Nike decided to publicly take a side in the conflict between President Trump and players and owners over the national anthem protests, coming out in support of the players' right to carry out the protest against racial inequality and police brutality. Nike said in a short statement "Nike supports athletes and their right to freedom of expression on issues that are of great importance to our society." Nike is so far the only NFL sponsor to clearly take one side. On Saturday, the day after Trump called players who protest during the anthem "son-of-a-b*tch" and said they should be fired, and the day before some 200 NFL players protested during the anthem in response, sponsor Under Armour tweeted that it, quote, "stands for the flag and by our Athletes for free speech, expression and a unified America," seeming to voice support for both sides of the issue. Ford also did some hedging, saying yesterday, "We respect individuals' rights to express their views, even if they are not ones we share." Advertisers hate to take sides on controversial issues, because they don't want to alienate customers, and unsurprisingly, after Nike's statement yesterday, some were applauding it on social media, but others were saying they would boycott Nike products. Of course Nike supports the players...the company has shoe endorsements with many of them.