Adidas Stops Selling Kevin Ware T-Shirt

Adidas has halted sales of a t-shirt featuring the jersey number of Kevin Ware, the Louisville guard who suffered a horrific broken leg in Sunday’s Elite Eight game against Duke.

The footwear and sports apparel company cited a “logo issue” in stopping sales of the Kevin Ware t-shirt, Louisville sports information director Kenny Klein said. The shirt had read “Ri5e to the Occasion,” with Kevin Ware’s jersey number substituted for the “S” in Rise.

The t-shirt came under fire for the perception that the university and Adidas were profiting off the injury Kevin Ware suffered. As a student-athlete, Ware is barred from making any profit related to his playing, so any profit would go to the school and company. Louisville noted however that it waived Adidas’ royalties for the shirt so it would not profit from his injury.

A lawyer representing former UCLA player Ed O’Bannon and other former student-athletes against the NCAA and Electronic Arts over the right to use players’ images had called on Louisville to stop selling the shirt.

“The fact that there is money going to the scholarship fund doesn’t change things,” said Rob Carey, a partner of Hagens Berman Sobol and Shapiro, who is working on the case. “If they didn’t ask for Ware’s permission, they can’t sell the shirt, and if they did ask for his permission and he said, ‘Yes,’ that would be an NCAA violation and he would no longer be eligible.”

Dave Zirin, a columnist for The Nation, also complained that others could profit from Kevin Ware’s devastating injury. He wrote:

“You almost have to tip your cap: no non-profit does buccaneer profiteering quite like the NCAA. What other institution would see a tibia snap through a 20-year-old’s skin on national television and see dollar signs? … Not one dime will go toward Kevin Ware’s medical bills if his rehab ends up beneath the $90,000 deductible necessary to access the NCAA’s catastrophic injury medical coverage.”

Louisville said the shirt was meant to honor Kevin Ware, and more promotions are planned using his image. For the team’s Final Four game on Saturday against Wichita State, the Louisville athletic department gave out 1,000 “big heads” of Ware to fans in the student section at the game.