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Table tennis
Managers
Alumni boxing
Updates
Two table tennis players share their experiences in a non-traditional hotbed. Page 27
After playing Lion baseball, two alums became managers at their colleges. Page 28
Humberto Martinez ’07 overcame great adversity and now boxes competitively. Page 29
A recap of winter athletics as the SPC championships loom near. Pages 30,31
SPORTS THE REMARKER • FEBRUARY 7, 2020
AIR JORDAN
Shoes of legends
After playing for the Dallas Cowboys, Kalen Thornton ’00 joined Nike, before transitioning over to Jordan Brand, a part of the Nike family.
K
alen Thornton ’00 grew up in the renaissance of professional sports. With ESPN just launching, coverage of professional sports had never been more comprehensive. Nike had risen to the top of its class. The rise of the modern global superstar athlete had just begun to emerge in the shape of Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player to ever step onto the court in the National Basketball Association. Jordan’s outreach extended far beyond the United States, Thornton noticed. And he idolized Jordan. Fast forward 20 years, and Thornton is just two weeks into his tenure as a member of the Jumpman family, a group composed of numerous high-profile athletes, helping expand Jordan Brand across the globe. In five short minutes, he will present to an audience filled with fellow co-workers, or so he believes. Nerves on edge, he reviews his part one last time before walking out on stage. He knows he can’t mess up in front of his co-workers. Or else, all the work he has put in to secure his job with Jordan would go to waste. He strides onto the stage, glances around the room and… There is Michael Jordan –– his childhood idol, who he has long dreamed of meeting –– sitting alongside NBA star Carmelo Anthony. First, he thought he couldn’t mess up in front of his co-workers. Now, he knows he can’t mess up in front of Michael Jordan. ••• Thornton fell in love with sports as a little kid, under the wing of his father who played in the NFL. He was exposed to a variety of sports at a very young age before ultimately focusing on football. As a standout athlete at 10600 Preston Road, Thornton received interest from various Power Five football programs to continue his football career at the collegiate level, before ultimately choosing to play IN THE SAME WAY THAT SOME at the University OF THE FACULTY AND PEERS of Texas. After PUSHED ME WHEN I WAS A KID finishing his AT ST. MARK’S , I NOW HAVE career as a fourTHE ABILITY TO DO THAT year starter at defensive end for FOR KIDS ACROSS THE GLOBE — KALEN THORNTON ’00 the Longhorns, Thornton entered his name into the 2004 NFL Draft. Although he was not selected due to his injury history, he tried out for the Dallas Cowboys and earned himself a spot on the team’s 53-man roster. “I ultimately decided to come back to Dallas for some of the same reasons I went to the University of Texas,” Thornton said. “If I was going to make it to the NFL, I would have rather made it in my hometown than in another city where it was unfamiliar. But I always knew that my body and my health weren’t necessarily in a place where I was going to enjoy a long-term career, so I played a couple years and then knew it was time to transition after suffering my last knee injury in 2006.” Thornton now had to quickly plan out his life after football –– a reality all professional athletes ultimately must face. Thankfully, for Thornton, he could lean on the degree he earned from the McCombs School of Business at UT and combine it with his passion for sports down the road. “I was ultimately faced with the decision of either finding where I wanted to play next or if I should pursue something else,” Thornton said. “My mentors from St. Mark’s gave some really good advice,
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person and being rooted in the community? It really ultimately saying, ‘You’re faced with a decision, you is about selling the authentic athlete story in a way can continue to choose to do this and ultimately face that connects and resonates with the people who are a transition later in life, or you can make a decision to engaged with our brand on any day.” do something else now.’” Looking ahead, although Jordan has built up Thornton began considering whether or not he a loyal, passionate following in North America, should go back to school –– without having to focus Thornton believes it has truly become and will on the game of football this time around –– to pursue continue to be a global brand with the addition of his MBA. young, exciting athletes. Deciding to go ahead with this route, “With [Washington Wizards forward] Thornton applied to various graduate Rui Hachimura, [Boston Celtics forward] programs and was turned down. However, Jayson Tatum, [New Orleans Pelicans he persisted and reapplied to schools after Kalen Thornton forward] Zion Williamson, and [Dallas working for JP Morgan for two years. He ’00 presents Mavericks guard] Luka Dončić,” Thornton then finally gained admission into Stanford to Jordan said, “this past year we’ve been fortunate University’s Graduate School of Business. executives and enough to bring on a few new, younger “At Stanford, I learned what was I am athletes alike athletes that are effectively going to be the important to me personally,” Thornton excited about what ones establishing the brand’s future.” said. “With that, I had an epiphany I can do Regarding his close interactions with the brand’s again –– that I really enjoyed so much about now for star athletes, Thornton ensures to never take these for sports, the power of sports and what it can do to be millions if granted. transformative in people’s lives. That I wanted to get not billions of people.” people.” “When it comes to landing an athlete, we’ll work back to it. There’s something pure about sport, about Kalen with him in big moments when we’re unveiling a camaraderie, about team that is still appealing to me Thornton ’00, new product and also photoshoots,” Thornton said. this day.” Global Senior “Without our athletes, without some of our other While at Stanford, Thornton specifically focused Director cultural authenticators and entertainers like Travis on sports marketing and storytelling before lucking Jordan Brand Scott, we don’t have as sharp of insights. We aren’t into an internship with Nike. Marketing able to connect with consumers in a big way, and so “I was back in Dallas during my internship they are huge partners in how we tell our stories.” working on high school football,” Thornton said. “I As Thornton’s global brand position requires a was exposed to a whole new way of looking at the healthy amount of travel alongside athletes and retail game. I was an athlete before and now I was serving partners, he has come to discover the brand’s impact athletes, which was really appealing.” and presence in various communities across the globe. After his internship, Thornton was fortunate “Everywhere you go, there is what we call the enough to earn a full-time position in Nike’s Jumpman family,” Thornton said. “There’s this Marketing Development Program in 2011 and hasn’t massive Jordan community that obviously knows looked back, sticking with the brand ever since. about Michael Jordan and his iconic status, but they “I came out of that internship, laser focused on also know about some of these other people here. getting back to sports and combining that with my Family and community and really this notion that in business and finance experience,” Thornton said. this family we believe no one flies alone, is something that is felt across the globe and growing.” Thornton has served in a variety of positions in global brand marketing for Nike in Portland, OR and New York City, including the company’s running and skateboarding departments, roles he could never have envisioned himself in as a former NFL player. “There have been some sports I’ve played in which I was not there for the fun of it that I end up loving and meeting some of my best friends in life,” Thornton said. “I learned more about the athlete’s journey from a different perspective and how passionate they were through running and skateboarding.” Now, as the Global Senior Director for Jordan, Thornton takes insights from brand consumers and athletes and works to devise products, focusing on telling the stories about how people interact with the brand through either digital channels, retail, physical events or TV commercials. “I come up with the strategy to help everything show up as one cohesive plan in the marketplace, so that if we want to tell a story about Zion Williamson, I ask, ‘What is the positioning?’” Thornton said. “Is BRAND MAN Thornton converses with Houston Rockets guard the tone more about being athletic and almost super Russell Westbrook (far left) and Portland Trail Blazers forward Carheroic, or is it more about them being a humble melo Anthony (left) after his presentation on the Air Jordan XXXIV.
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STORY William Aniol, Jack Davis PHOTOS Courtesy Kalen Thornton