THERE was once a time when sport wouldn’t touch politics with a barge pole. The two, it was repeated time and time again, should not mix.

Back in the 1990s, Michael Jordan was amongst the highest-profile athletes in the world. The basketball star had his own line of Nike footwear and at that time, he was well-known for being hugely reticent about wading into politics, reportedly saying that “Republicans buy sneakers too”, in reference to not wanting to alienate a significant proportion of the American public by airing his political views.

In recent years, politics has steadily become a more and more prominent factor within the sporting sphere. And this week, it was confirmed that the recent bond between sport and politics is here to stay.

Last night, during the NFL season opener in America, Nike aired its newest advert. It is part of the sporting giant’s “Dream Crazy” marketing campaign, which marks the 30th anniversary of the “Just Do It” slogan and the advert has, it is safe to say, caused quite a stir.

It is narrated by Colin Kaepernick, the American football player who initiated the ‘take a knee’ movement, which sees athletes kneel down during the national anthem prior to games in protest at police brutality. Kaepernick’s actions have been a huge talking point in America and it has seen him effectively black-listed from the NFL, with no team willing to sign him.

It is a remarkable advert, which opens with Kaepernick’s voice saying ‘If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do, good. Stay that way.’

Also included are Serena Williams, with the words “If you’re a girl from Compton, don’t just become a tennis player, become the greatest athlete- ever” spoken over a clip of her at the US Open, a shot of NBA star, Lebron James opening his ‘I Promise’ school accompanied with the words: “Don’t become the best basketball player on the planet, be bigger than basketball,” and Eliud Kipchoge, with Kaepernick saying: “Don’t try to became the fastest runner in your school, or the fastest in the world, be the fastest ever.”

The advert concludes with the former quarterback saying: “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”

Kaepernick is the most overtly political athlete in the world today, to such an extent that he now calls himself an activist as much as he’s an athlete.

For Nike to choose a figure who is so closely aligned with a political cause and who is so divisive is worlds apart from Michael Jordan’s unwillingness to air any political views whatsoever in case a proportion of his potential market became disgruntled. In contrast, the Nike of today seems utterly unperturbed about upsetting some potential customers.

And divisive it has certainly been. Some have been so incensed by the use of Kaepernick, and Nike’s implicit support of his cause, they posted videos on social media of them burning their Nike trainers.

It has been a bold move from Nike to take such a stance with Kaepernick knowing, as they must have, they were likely to rile a proportion of their customer base. Let’s not pretend the the company does not have at least half an eye on commercial gain here. Indeed, after an initial drop in Nike’s share price, it rebounded and is now up nearly 28 percent overall. And it has been revealed that the campaign generated $43 million in media coverage for Nike in the first 24 hours alone. So it wasn’t a bad business decision.

There was a time, however, when making money would not have been enough to persuade a company such as Nike to give an explicitly political figure star billing in such a high-profile advertising campaign. That they are basing their entire campaign around Kaepernick shows quite how drastically things have changed and it is unlikely to revert to sport and politics being entirely separate entities ever again.

This development is hugely positive for sport, although it may not be to everyone’s liking. Kaepernick’s legacy will be far more as a result of his actions over the past few years than it would have been had he been a mere quarter-back. And he has changed the world in a way that sport cannot do alone. Nike’s Kaepernick advert will live long in the memory, and could well inspire more companies to follow suit. And that is a very good thing both for sport and for the wider world.