Nike asked FSU for Jimbo Fisher's son not to wear Under Armour sweatshirt in November
Ethan Fisher, the son of Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, can't be accused of not supporting his father's team. He's usually wearing FSU gear while watching the Seminoles.
When FSU beat Miami on Nov. 2, 2013, Ethan had a Florida State sweatshirt on. However, that sweatshirt was made by Under Armour. Florida State has a contract with Nike for its teams.
Nike noticed this and emailed Florida State about it after the game. The Wall Street Journal obtained the emails via a Freedom of Information Act request that covered "a two-week period" in November. (In case you were wondering, allegations of sexual assault against FSU QB Jameis Winston surfaced on Nov. 13.)
In the email, Nike's Mark Dupes, the company's assistant director for football sports marketing, congratulated FSU on the win and then said:
"Hey got a text from the USA Director of Sports Marketing last night telling me of how good things look w FSU and our players and sideline staff, exposure for the Brand was exceptional. Then 5 min later I rec a new message…Said ABC cameras were on Jimbo and his Son ad end of the game…His son was Wearing Under Armour FSU sweatshirt! Ouch. Can we please ask Jimbo to eliminate that from the son's wardrobe in the future! Let me know if I can help w anything. Thx guys. MD"
Florida State senior associate athletics director Monk Bonasorte told the WSJ he remembered the email but said "What am I going to do, go to coach and say, 'Hey can you take that shirt off him? I'm not going to call Jimbo Fisher and tell him what his son can wear."
Bonasorte also classified the remark about the brand of sweatshirt as more of a joke than anything. Nike issued a statement saying that the contract with FSU does not extend to relatives of FSU athletic department members. However, the WSJ says photos from the rest of Florida State's season show Ethan in Nike apparel.
After Florida State won the BCS Championship Game in January, Ethan was wearing a Nike hat and shirt.
And at a Florida State basketball game in February, he was rocking the Nike gear too.
Plus, both of Fisher's sons have custom Nike jerseys.
Perhaps the following Nike sightings are a mere coincidence. But based off the email, even if Florida State hasn't formally said anything to the Fishers, we're going to guess that Ethan will have a Nike sweatshirt for games in cooler temperatures this fall. And probably a new jersey too after FSU announced it will have new uniforms in 2014.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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