SELECT 1 on 1: Keyshawn Johnson on the Return of his adidas EQT Key Trainer

In every major sport, the star players will always attract the attention of corporate heavyweights looking to align their product with popular and marketable athletes. Footwear is no doubt a common denominator among all the sports and the big name brands have been scrambling to sign the big name players for decades now. Tennis and basketball were the industry pioneers when it came to introducing the concept of the signature shoe, but in the ’80s the spectrum broadened significantly into other sports with football emerging as one of the prime targets for market expansion.

Bo Jackson emerged as the prototype for transitioning football stars into the sneaker market. Selling football cleats is great, but it’s a small slice of the market. The idea of a versatile multi-purpose training shoe, however, crosses over into all different consumer demographics. As a result, the precedent was set and brands started scooping up fan-favorite football phenoms to endorse their training models. By the ’90s, gridiron superstars like Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Junior Seau and Deion Sanders among others all started finding themselves attached to one shoe or the other.

adidas didn’t dive right into the signature football fray, instead choosing to wait for the right athlete and opportunity to plant their flag in the market. In 1996, the stars aligned just right and the

Three Stripes made their move, signing a brash young football star just as they were on the verge of announcing an innovative new technology perfect for the training category.

Keyshawn Johnson was the first overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, and adidas wasted no time beating out the competition to bring him on board. Between his engaging personality, abundance of confidence, and dynamic style of play, Keyshawn was a perfect fit to be the football ambassador for their forward-thinking Feet You Wear initiative. Featuring chunky rounded outsoles designed to mimic the contours of the heel and balls of your feet, the unorthodox Feet You Wear line would introduce a number of future fan favorites like the KB8 (now the Crazy 8), the Top Ten 2000, and the EQT Elevation.

Historically overshadowed by the wealth of FYW basketball offerings, Keyshawn’s EQT Key Trainer is finally getting some overdue recognition nearly twenty years after its 1996 debut. True to its original form, the Key Trainer is returning to retailers this weekend in its OG Jets-friendly colorway and still sporting his logo above the toebox. We had a chance to talk with Keyshawn about the retro return of his sig, the dilemma of wearing your own shoe and more, so continue on for the full interview, and keep an eye out for the EQT Key Trainer hitting adidas Originals retailers this Saturday, April 5th.

SN:  Were you into sneakers as a kid, and if so, what were some of your favorites?

Keyshawn: I would say it was probably more as a teenager. As a little kid, it was hard to afford many pairs of shoes. And then when I became a teenager, that’s when the tennis shoe world, in terms of basketball and sports, was taking off. You obviously had the original Shell Toes with Run DMC. You had the Air Jordans that would come out. Then you had your casual shoes like K-Swiss and you had your cool shoes like Vans with your shorts. That was that whole sneaker generation.

SN:  Especially being a football player, could you ever have imagined that you’d have your own signature sneaker?

Keyshawn:   When I was in high school, Bo Jackson had the whole Bo Knows campaign, and at that point, I started realizing – you know what? I might be able to have my own training shoe if I do what I’m supposed to do as a football player. And as time continued to go by, and you continue to excel, then the realization sets in when you get to college that this is an opportunity. Because I think at the time, Deion Sanders had a shoe and Bo Jackson

had a shoe. And I think those are pretty much the only two football players that had their own signature line. Obviously you had basketball players with a signature line. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Dr. J – those guys had their own shoe. In tennis, Agassi and some other guys had their own signature shoe. So as you continue to go through the process of college, you realize that this might really be an opportunity.

SN:  How involved were you in the process when the Key Trainer was first being designed?

Keyshawn:  Very involved. We sat down for maybe a six month period of time before we actually even started to get to the design phases. Then we finally came up with the creation. Because at the time, this technology (Feet You Wear) was just being launched by adidas and I had an opportunity to go through that entire process with them.

SN:  Your shoe was one of the first to introduce adidas’ Feet You Wear concept. What your initial reactions to such an unorthodox technology?

Keyshawn:  It was interesting. When you first saw the shoe and the mold of the bottom of it, you were like – this doesn’t look like my foot, it’s not gonna fit right. And then all of a sudden, you put it on and it’s molded to your feet and it’s like – Okay, I get it now! I thought it was an excellent technology. I trained in them. I actually played games in them. It was a training shoe that you could actually wear in any environment, whether you were going to a club, or out to dinner with a pair of jeans on. And that’s what I wanted it to be able to have it as a fashion piece more so than a football training shoe. I wanted to be able to do a lot of different things with it.

SN:  What was your reaction when you learned they were bringing your shoe back?

Keyshawn:  I thought it was cool. I thought it would be a really cool idea to bring them back because the shoe market, especially for retros, is pretty big right now. So to be able to introduce the shoe back to mainstream America for those that didn’t even know  I had a shoe. So that generation will have an opportunity to realize that I had a shoe and adidas felt like it was an important shoe that they wanted to bring back. Obviously, it says a lot.

SN:  Did you hold on to any of your old pairs as keepsakes?

Keyshawn:  I did. I have probably three pair left of this particular shoe. I keep a lot of memorabilia. I got more than what I need, trust me!

SN:  Will a crispy new pair of Key Trainers be going right into your regular rotation now that they’re back?

Keyshawn:  You know, it’s a little weird to wear your own shoe. I don’t know, It just feels weird right? Like you’re wearing your own shoes. Just weird. But I will be wearing them and I probably will be training in them. But it’s a little weird to wear your own shoe. It’s like, oh look at me, I’m bragging. But oh well. Who would have ever thought a kid from South Central, LA would have his own shoe?

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A big thanks to Keyshawn for taking the time to talk sneakers with us. Look for the adidas EQT Trainer to hit select retailers this Saturday, April 5th.