For those of you that want some more background information, I am a rank and file Nike employee, and I was at the special lunch visit that Phil Knight and Andre Agassi had for employees at the Nike World Headquarters this afternoon where the reunion was announced. On the company intranet site last week, they had advertised a "surprise athlete" visitor would be coming, and where he or she would be appearing, but they only gave a few hints. (Many were speculating that it would be a track and field athlete, giving away tickets to the upcoming NCAA track championships in Eugene. However, when I heard that Phil Knight was going to be there, I knew it was going to be big).
Here are some of the things I saw today:
- When Andre came up on the stage, Mr. Knight told a short story of how Andre had called him last month, not asking for any money or making contract demands. Rather, Andre just told him that he wanted to come "home to Nike, and be part of the family again." At that point, both Andre and Phil had tears in their eyes, and embraced emotionally. The crowd of employees in attendance erupted in cheers, and there was the euphoria of seeing a very special, genuine, moment.
- Andre started out by saying that neither he, nor Phil, needed this (financially), but both really wanted the reunion to happen. He stated that Nike was there to support him when he was just a kid, all the way through the highs and lows of his career, and that he felt bad in the way things had gone in the end... so he wanted to make it right.
- Andre told a couple funny stories about his kids, and said that nobody was more excited that he was back with Nike than his son, who has always preferred the Swoosh.
- Andre told a few short tennis related stories. One of them was about how his wig/weave and Nike hat were a nasty mess when he won the US Open in 1994. Apparently, he had worn the same thing for all the matches in that tournament, partially out of superstition, and that it was pretty gross by the time he got to the final. When he won, Michael Stich had given him a hug... and the first words he said were "wow, you really smell bad." Andre also talked about his relationship with Jimmy Connors, which is not on the best of terms. Connors has said "Agassi is not my kind of guy," and Andre said that the feeling is mutual.
- Andre talked about the importance of education, and the $175 million he was able to raise for his charter school in Las Vegas, and the positive impact it has had on thousands of children since the doors opened. However, he also talked about how they can only serve 1,300 kids at that school each year, and that there are 2,500 kids on the waiting list. Therefore, he's been working on ways to scale up the college prep program in underpriviledged areas across the US. To that end, his team has found an innovative way to fund new schools and has raised over $1 billion to start building new facilities around the country.
- Andre and Phil talked about how Andre's role at Nike will not only be for promoting tennis as an icon, but also the fitness movement for families across the country to combat obesity.
Here is a fuzzy picture I took on my phone of the event:
