Originally Posted On: https://www.equities.com/impact-investing/shawn-springs-tech-innovation/
Athletes of Influence: Shawn Springs pivots from NFL to tech innovation
When Shawn Springs was selected third overall by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1997 National Football League Draft, the Ohio State All-American became the highest-drafted cornerback in league history.
His 13-year career in the pros included 723 tackles, 33 interceptions, Pro Bowl and all-pro selections, and plenty of other accolades. And yet, as he neared retirement, he started experiencing a loss of confidence.
“Once you hit 10 years in the league, you start to think about what’s next,” Springs said. “Did the world pass me by while I was playing? I wasn’t in the real world doing business, responding to emails, or going to board meetings. That becomes a nervousness. Can I get into that game? Am I qualified to get into that game?”
Having launched two successful businesses since his retirement in 2009, the answer, it turns out, is yes.
Lessons learned and passing the torch
Shawn’s father, Ron Springs, also played professional football, but his career length was shorter – which is more typical of the average player. The Dallas Cowboys running back spent eight seasons in the NFL, during which he noticed the lack of longevity NFL players had in their careers.
“I came into the NFL with a unique perspective because my father was a football player,” Springs said. “I always had my dad talking about how the NFL is not for long and it’s just a stepping stone to your post-career.”
Though Springs’ career lasted much longer than average, he heeded his father’s advice.
As his career was winding down, Springs began thinking about post-career opportunities. At the same time, the NFL Players Association slowly began blowing the whistle on the effects chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) had on its players.
A 2017 study showed 99% of deceased professional players had various stages of CTE, known to be caused by concussions and other types of repetitive brain trauma common in football. The year Springs retired, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went before Congress to defend the league’s policies against allegations of neglect.
And so, once he hung up his cleats for good, he began studying helmet technology — which, to his surprise, hadn’t changed much since his dad’s retirement.
A different type of impact investing
Shortly after his own retirement in 2010, Springs founded Windpact, with a goal of enhancing impact protection in football helmets. Windpact began marketing its Crash Cloud concept to helmet brands in top sports leagues.
“I knew the significance of making safer products to help reduce serious and traumatic brain injury.”
When installed inside helmets, Crash Cloud controlled airflow through specialized vents, almost like an airbag, to lessen the severity of head impacts on athletes. By 2016, Windpact had received two awards from the NFL for its innovation in creating the technology.
Finding the right role for himself and putting the right team around him was key to Springs’ success. “I wasn’t a technical founder, but I was a user,” he said. “I knew the significance of making safer products to help reduce serious and traumatic brain injury and things like that. I knew the challenges and problems we were facing.”
Springs is now pivoting Windpact to provide smart manufacturing to other businesses and partners, including the Department of Defense. Meanwhile a new endeavor, InnateIQ, is looking to help manufacturers in the digital space become more efficient in the sales process.
Putting the fear to rest and enjoying the success
Thirteen years after saying goodbye to the game of football (at least on the field), the 49-year-old now feels comfortable operating in the business world. Just like the horde of honors he earned on the gridiron; he’s starting to be recognized by his peers for his work behind the desk.
And it’s not in any small fashion.
A Crash Cloud lacrosse helmet
This year, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History opened an exhibit honoring innovation in the sports world — and Springs, along with Windpact’s Crash Cloud technology, are in impressive company.
Springs is being recognized along with the inventors of Gatorade, the Jogbra sports bra and the high-speed photo finish camera, to name a few.
“There’s a challenge for a lot of guys who identified as athletes. Am I an innovator or an athlete?” he asked. “If you would have asked me, during my career, if I thought I (would be in the Smithsonian), I would have never been able to imagine that.
“Athletes are taught early on to idolize the Lebrons, the Tom Bradys, and you think that’s the biggest you can become.”
Given his NFL career, the bar is set high, but Springs may be on track to prove that theory wrong.
