You are driving the family car through your quiet neighborhood with your two sons in the backseat. It is a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, but as you cross the intersection, seconds away from your driveway, you notice out of the corner of your eye the car next to you is running the stop sign.
As the car impacts the side of your can, your initial reaction is thinking of your kids and their safety. After the crash comes to a screeching halt, you notice your kids are completely unscathed except for a few minor scratches thanks to their car seats.
This is much like the story of former All-Pro NFL cornerback, Shawn Springs, who is now the CEO and Founder of Windpact, Inc. After being involved in a totaling car crash with his two sons in the backseat, Springs realized that if a car seat could save his kid’s lives then he could relay that technology and adapt it to the sport of football, specifically its helmets.
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Developing Windpact is a step towards protecting against traumatic brain injuries like concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) which football players experience time and time again. CTE is common in individuals who have had multiple blows to the head and can result in a degenerative disease which negatively alters their lives after football.
Concussion protocol has grown over the years, specifically after the suicide of long-time San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots linebacker, Junior Seau, after revealing he suffered from CTE. Even motion pictures are getting involved. The movie Concussion, starring Will Smith, shed light on the growing issues of head injuries and the NFL’s actions to prevent them.
Springs still has multiple friends active in the NFL and hopes Windpact can protect those individuals and give back to the game he has been a part of his whole life. “Windpact is my way of giving back to the game I love,” said Springs. “By improving the safety for the players who play now and those who will play in the future.”
Windpact’s Crash Cloud system is comprised of three elements: Wind Springs™, Impact Vents™ and Refresh Vents™. These elements work to absorb the blow to the head, disperse the impact and then rebound to protect against multiple impacts one right after another. Windpact does not manufacture helmets, but it hopes to become the “Intel Inside” for helmet safety and license out the Crash Cloud system to helmet manufacturers across the sporting world.
Building a brand is the name of the game in competitive business, but Windpact technology could expand further than football, into military uses, construction, transportation and even healthcare. Its goal for now is to “become synonymous with head protection by building a leading brand in safety and design that improves impact performance in helmets and protective gear,” according to the company press release.
Windpact has already partnered with companies like Under Armour and the Ohio State University in order to spread concussion protection. Perhaps the next time your kids strap on their helmet, it will be like buckling them into a car seat and you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they are protected.