New Hispanic Gatorade Commercial

I'm a sports writer and I've never -- never -- heard of Rolando Cantu. Well, Rolando Cantu is now a Gatorade athlete. Gatorade announced on Monday that will debut new spanish advertising featuring Cantu, the first player from a Mexican university to play in the NFL. The new spot, called “Chosen”, tells the story of Cantu’s entry into the league and the challenges he faced along the way to the roster of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. The spot, Cantu tells his story as he lines up for action on the Cardinals’ practice field. As he prepares for the snap, he recounts how people told him he wasn’t big enough or good enough to play in the NFL and how the game was too complicated for him to succeed. However, as the ball is snapped, those assumptions are squashed as Cantu dominates the play.

“We celebrate Rolando Cantu’s remarkable road to the NFL because of his continuing passion and dedication,” said Cindy Alston, vice president, communications and equity development for Gatorade, in a statement. “Honoring his achievement is a fitting tribute to all athletes who have overcome challenges to play at the highest level of their sport.”

“I am proud to be the star of my very own Gatorade commercial,” Cantu said. “Hopefully, my story will inspire future generations of athletes, including young Hispanic athletes around the U.S., to pursue their dreams of playing professional sports.”

Cantu’s dream began in 1996 as he watched the NFL’s American Bowl in his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico. Unable to play football until his teens due to weight restrictions, Cantu didn’t play his first snap until junior high. By 2003, Cantu was participating in the National Player Mini Camp in Tampa Bay, Florida and was allocated to the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe. He helped Berlin win the NFL Europe World Bowl that summer and became one of four players allocated to an NFL team as part of the inaugural NFL International Development Practice Squad program. After spending much of 2005 on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad, Cantu was promoted to the team’s active playing roster earlier this year and took the field against the Indianapolis Colts. The ad debuts nationwide on Monday on Telemundo, Telefutura, Univision, GolTV, and Azteca America networks. The new commercial was created by Dieste Harmel & Partners and directed by Josh Taft.

Comments

[bob]

I really love the new commercial where the nigger egg hatches, ya know, and the nigger pops out of the egg.