In recent weeks millions of people all over the world have watched Nike’s new ad campaign featuring controversial former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. The ad features several athletes including one woman who grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington.
Megan Blunk graduated from Peninsula High School but played wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois and on the USA Paralympic team.
A few months back she was contacted about possibly appearing in a commercial in need of a wheelchair athlete. As she continued with the process she learned it was a Nike ad and soon realized she would be playing a part in Colin Kaepernick’s Nike commercial.
“It was pretty unreal that I happened to go through my messages at 2 a.m. and decided to look up this person who sounded like spam and then got to do this interview and then everything went from there,” Blunk said. “Then when I saw the commercial I was blown away. I couldn’t even believe it I woke up to messages and everything is just blowing up and this commercial was so meaningful and so much more than I could have ever expected.”
Blunk knows that Kaepernick is a controversial figure, but she appreciates how he took a chance and spoke out for what he believed in.
Kaepernick made international news when he was one of the first players to take a knee during the national anthem at an NFL game. Since then, dozens of players have followed his lead.
“It’s scary to stand up for what you believe in and put yourself out there and not know what’s going to happen after with all the judgment that you are going to receive, but I think doing what you believe in and being your true self no matter what, if you feel strongly about something, I think you should go for it and he did,” Blunk said.
