Rob Gronkowski joined J.J. Watt and teammate Tom Brady as a star player to brand himself with a logo, but it looks like Nike isn’t too pleased with it.
New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski is ready for another big year after a herniated disc prevented him from making his mark on the 2016 season. Gronk averaged an ungodly 21.6 yards per reception in the eight games he did suit up for, and he figures to put up some monstrous numbers in 2017 in a passing attack that has become increasingly more aggressive due to the wide receiver upgrades.
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Until then, Gronkowski will have to worry about a little issue off of the field, and it has to do with the logo he chose for his personal brand.
Per ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Nike believes that Gronkowski’s silhoutte logo of him spiking a football is too similar to Michael Jordan’s famous Jumpman logo. Rovell tweeted out a photo that compares both logos.
Nike says Gronkowski logo is too close to Jumpman, files opposition against Gronk, who endorses Nikehttps://t.co/ki1GVZrCxd pic.twitter.com/t6l3WoPJrj
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 30, 2017
I guess they are similar because they are both silhouttes of people doing something with a ball, but, other than that, I don’t get why Nike is doing this. Gronkowski is a high-profile athlete who wears their shoes, and I highly doubt anybody will mistake either logo or brand.
I have a feeling Gronkowski’s camp will come up with a modification to their current logo, which they filed a trademark for in April before Nike submitted an opposition, because there’s no sense in either side actually fighting over this.
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Gronkowski will figure to be one of the Patriots top three targets next season, along with the always-reliable Julian Edelman and high-priced trade acquisition Brandin Cooks. Out of these three elite athletes, Gronkowski still brings the most playmaking ability and mismatch-making to the table, and and he is a lock for 10 touchdowns whenever he’s able to play for the majority of the season.