Nike quickly sent a spokesman to the front and announced that Nike does not have an endorsement deal with Vick. The company did admit to "supplying product" to Vick "as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike." So, basically Nike gave Vick some free shoes, perhaps some free gloves and wristbands as well.

The bottom line is that many non-Nike athletes are given free product, heck even colleges are given shoes for their players to wear. So we have a professional agent completely misreading a move by Nike and ending up red-faced over the whole deal. This story was front and center on many national sports-talk radio shows and a top-read entry on many sports pages, both in print and on the intrawebs.

The truth here is that Mike Vick is still persona non grata when it comes to endorsements. If you remember, Nike was the last of Vick's endorsers to dump him -- and it pulled the latest iteration of the Air Vick after the conviction. Those shoes were to sell for $100 a pair, but the Swoosh decided it was not to be. Good move by Nike, as there was definite backlash.

My question is this, are you buying the explanation? Do you think that Nike made the Vick camp believe that there was a deal in place only to pull the rug out from them at the last minute? I can't believe that, as Nike is far more shrewd than to even think about signing a deal with Vick.

In fact, let's not sell the shoe giant out of the Great Northwest short -- the stock is currently riding momentum from an earnings announcement and has its sights set on heights not seen since early and late 2008. With the stock resting well above support from its 10- and 20-month moving averages, it seems well positioned to continue its ascent up the charts. Good public relations is as much a part of business as a good bottom line, and it appears that Nike understands this.