During his Florida State career, Richie Andrews didn’t take many hits, but he wants to reduce the harmful effects for those who do.
“I’m trying to bring in a lot of technology from different industries and put them toward a football helmet,” Andrews said. “We’re trying to mitigate injuries. You have players in football colliding at a high rate of speed. It’s been a challenge so far.”
Andrews was the placekicker for the Seminoles from 1987-90 before being selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Prior to his FSU career, Andrews played plenty of different positions on the football field and has stayed around the game.
Andrews is the founder of LDR Headgear, which has been selling commercially for three years. Working with Andrews is Michael Princip, a former employee at Schutt, who helped design the F-7.
“He’s a very creative designer,” Andrews said. “I’m a creative dreamer, so to speak.”
The two are partnering with a company called Crossover to create the safest helmet possible. A provisional design patent is pending.
“We’re very close to a national mandate with soccer,” Andrews said. “We’ve had a good impact with the wrestling industry. We’re trying to target the youth of America. We’re trying to offer more protection and a lighter football helmet.”
Andrews said his passion for head protection came while he was coaching at his high school alma mater, St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. Watching from the sidelines, Andrews saw former Ohio State and current Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive end Joey Bosa suffer a concussion on what seemed like a minor hit.
“I seen him take a glancing blow to the head,” Andrews said. “I couldn’t believe he got concussed because of that. That was the turning point for me. I said there has to be something that can be done to prevent these concussions.”
Andrews noted that sometimes a concussed player is obvious when there’s a big hit, but the glancing blows like Bosa took go unnoticed, but have potentially long-term consequences.
“I’m definitely going to be looking for help with my old network of football players,” Andrews said. “If anyone in the FSU community would like to be part of this, feel free to reach out.”
For more information or to contact Andrews, visit LDR Headgear’s website.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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