0:12: I was just on track. Go to a good college, get a decent degree, do good and
0:20: you’re going to get an entry-level job down at Wall Street.0:22: You’re going to work real hard; you’re going to be a broker; you’re going to make tons of money;
you’re going to be retired, and
0:26: by a young age, you’re going to have a house on the beach in New Jersey and a
0:29: couple of Mercedes. And a
0:30: trophy wife, and that will be the end of the game.
0:32: I’m done—multi-millionaire—that’s it!
0:38: I was playing professionally for the New Jersey Imperials;
0:41: I was playing the best soccer my life.
0:51: (background music)
1:03: I get offered
1:04: this coaching job by one of my teammates to go coach at Saint John’s University,
1:08: the NCAA Division 1 national champions; they are the best team in the country.
1:12: I was having a blast. I was loving coaching; I was loving playing.
1:16: I’m living in New York. I’m also studying stuff that I really enjoy.
1:20: I’m digging into studying theology
1:22: for the first time in my life in a formal way.
1:26: I get online, I start doing searches about Nike and
1:29: sweatshops and labor practices. And what I found was,
1:33: if you wanted to pick a company that completely violates everything
1:37: the Catholic social teaching is about, Nike would be your perfect case study.
1:41: At the same time I’m doing this research, Saint John’s University Athletic Department
1:45: starts to negotiate a $3.5 million endorsement deal with Nike
1:49: that would require me, as a coach, to wear and promote the products.
1:52: Saint John’s University is the largest Catholic institution in the country,
1:56: coupling itself with the largest sportswear company in the world,
2:01: and I said “how can we, as such a public symbol of Catholicism,
2:07: do something that runs completely counter to our mission?”
2:11: We’re saying to the world, “Look,
2:14: you should care about the poor, and we should fight against injustice, and we
2:18: should seek out the causes of poverty,
2:20: well unless you’re getting some really good athletic equipment
2:23: and $3.5 million along with it.” I mean you want to talk about just
2:27: hypocrisy manifested
2:31: in the real world—this was it! (News broadcast- “And you have the story at Saint John,”
2:35: “Jim Keady has caused a massive pile up.” “He is clearly an idealist.”) I didn’t go to Saint
2:40: John’s University
2:41: to work for Nike; I went there to coach
2:44: and to study theology. (News broadcast: “Keady, a devout Catholic
2:48: protested, ‘How does he reach the point where he thinks it’s immoral to wear the swoosh?’
2:51: ‘Because he’s coming at it from a background of faith and religion;
2:55: this isn’t about
2:56: just money or power or a job or anything. Think about this,
2:59: how many of us on a job that we really want
3:02: are prepared to get a memo from the boss saying stop doing this or you’re out,
3:06: and you keep doing it?’”) I was given an ultimatum by my head coach,
3:09: wear Nike and drop this issue or resign,
3:13: end of story. So, in June of 1998, I was constructively fired.
3:24: People were telling me, “you don’t know what you’re talking about;” “you know, those are great
3:27: jobs, and you can live like a king or queen on those wages, and those people are
3:30: really happy to have those jobs.”
3:32: I want to go find out.
3:35: Doesn’t everybody just want to know the truth? So I wanted to know the truth
3:39: first hand. I wanted to see it. I wanted to smell it. I wanted to hold it in my hand.
3:49: I knew I was going to need other people,
3:50: Leslie was a natural match.
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