Colin Kaepernick singing along to Hezekiah Walker’s ‘God Favored Me’ gets gospel artist's attention
Article By Nancy Peterson // EEW Magazine News
Colin Kaepernick’s endorsement deal with Nike has sparked a flood of debate, starting a wave of protests nationwide.
As controversy swirls around him and his fight against police brutality and racial inequality, a video of the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback singing along to gospel artist Hezekiah Walker’s 2009 hit, “God Favored Me,” is going viral.
“They whispered, conspired, they told their lies, God favors me,” say the lyrics. “My character, my integrity, my faith in God, He favors me.”
Though the video was published on YouTube in 2015, some are just seeing it for the first time, including the GRAMMY® Award-winning gospel composer who wrote it.
“I’m glad I was able to put a song out to inspire Colin Kaepernick,” tweeted Walker, 55, on September 8, adding a message directly to the athlete: “looking forward to working with you!”
The video may be old, but a new wave of God’s favor certainly seems to be with Kaepernick as of late. He recently scored a legal victory in his grievance against the NFL and its 32 teams when an arbitrator allowed his case to continue to trial. The quarterback claims that owners conspired to keep him out of the league because of his protests. His case hinges on whether owners worked together rather than decided individually to not sign Kaepernick.
His deal with Nike was a hot trending topic on Twitter and other social networks, with some fans urging a boycott of the company’s clothes and sneakers — even burning and cutting out the signature swoosh logos on their gear.
Others pushed back, saying the backlash against Nike showed the polarizing debate has morphed well beyond whether NFL players should be allowed to demonstrate for social causes by kneeling when the national anthem plays in stadiums before games.
The league itself weighed in with an executive saying the social issues Kaepernick has raised are valid.
“We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities,” said Jocelyn Moore, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications and public affairs. “The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”
Now that Kaepernick is one of the faces of Nike’s 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign, the global brand will feature his favored face on several platforms, including billboards, television commercials and online ads.
Nike also will create an apparel line for Kaepernick, including a signature shoe, and contribute to his Know Your Rights charity, the person said. The deal puts Kaepernick in the top bracket of NFL players with Nike.
See the video of him singing the popular hit below.
The Associated Press attributed to this EEW Magazine report.