Rawlings unveils Neuro Responsive Gear
July 21, 2010 - United States Of America
Rawlings announced that in August it will launch its highly anticipated Rawlings NRG football helmet, which was unveiled last Friday to more than 100 sporting goods team dealers from throughout the nation during a two-day gathering at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The introduction of the NRG helmet formally signals a new and significant “total solution” emphasis on football for Rawlings, which also last week introduced the latest version of the state-of-the-art Rawlings S100 batting helmet during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Anaheim, Calif. Rawlings is the official batting helmet of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball.
The NRG football helmet, which will be seeded geographically in August and October ahead of a nationwide launch in 2011, joins the Rawlings S100 baseball batting helmet to further support Rawlings’ leadership in protecting the heads of athletes.
NRG – for Neuro Responsive Gear – will be the flagship brand name for the full Rawlings helmet line, which consists of the NRG Quantum for elite-level competition (adult and youth) and the NRG Momentum for youth players. Rawlings also unveiled its SRG line – for Skeletal Responsive Gear – of pads and undergarments that will offer the most complete head-to-ankle combination of protective and performance from one football brand or company.
The NRG football helmet will lead the brand’s comprehensive advance into the competitive and growing football protective gear and apparel category. The complete Rawlings family of football products, including Zoombang™ protective gear and AIMS™ shoulder pads, was introduced to team dealers by Rawlings president Robert Parish and other company executives.
“Best-in-class head protection is a signature attribute of the Rawlings brand, and that core value is at the heart our new Rawlings NRG football helmet line,” Parish said. “The introduction of the NRG football helmet is significant on numerous fronts. First, it provides Rawlings the opportunity to offer a total solution, or total protection from head to ankle. And it delivers an extremely important message to team dealers, athletic directors, coaches, equipment managers, parents and players, and that is Rawlings is fully, 100 percent, committed to football.”
Presenters from Rawlings recapped the brand’s history in the game and its vision for football with the help of Cowboys Stadium’s $40 million video board above the field. Team dealers in attendance represented locally based sporting goods companies that work and sell directly to high school and college athletic directors, coaches, equipment managers and consumers.
“I think the most important thing to come out of these meetings is that Rawlings has a story to tell,” said John Lassiter of Midwest Sporting Goods in Tulsa, Okla. “They’ve put a lot of effort in getting their football product to this point and it’s pretty impressive. It’s a good story, good technology.
“The most impressive thing they presented was their concept of providing a complete program from uniforms to protective apparel to helmets to shoulder pads. It’s a complete package and maybe the only company in the industry.”
“I think that in just the last couple of years we’ve seen some real technological changes in football equipment and helmets,” said team dealer Bob Fawley of Capitol Varsity Sports in Oxford, Ohio. “Rawlings has recognized that at this point they needed to come to the market with a story and technology in place and, based on what I’ve seen here, that’s exactly what they’ve done.
“The football parent and coaches that are out there in the marketplace today want to know how their helmets perform and why. Not that many years ago that question wasn’t being asked. Now with the heightened awareness of concussions and the discussions that are going on, families and coaches want to understand why the helmet performs the way it does.”
“The helmet meets a real spot for us dealers, for quality and price, which we think will be great,” said team dealer John Stote III of Anaconda Sports in Kingston, N.Y. “I liked the way that Rawlings talked about supporting dealers, which in this industry always hasn’t been a strong point. They’re talking to us, they showed their cards, and they brought us in to show us.”
The introduction of the NRG helmet formally signals a new and significant “total solution” emphasis on football for Rawlings, which also last week introduced the latest version of the state-of-the-art Rawlings S100 batting helmet during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Anaheim, Calif. Rawlings is the official batting helmet of Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball.
The NRG football helmet, which will be seeded geographically in August and October ahead of a nationwide launch in 2011, joins the Rawlings S100 baseball batting helmet to further support Rawlings’ leadership in protecting the heads of athletes.
NRG – for Neuro Responsive Gear – will be the flagship brand name for the full Rawlings helmet line, which consists of the NRG Quantum for elite-level competition (adult and youth) and the NRG Momentum for youth players. Rawlings also unveiled its SRG line – for Skeletal Responsive Gear – of pads and undergarments that will offer the most complete head-to-ankle combination of protective and performance from one football brand or company.
The NRG football helmet will lead the brand’s comprehensive advance into the competitive and growing football protective gear and apparel category. The complete Rawlings family of football products, including Zoombang™ protective gear and AIMS™ shoulder pads, was introduced to team dealers by Rawlings president Robert Parish and other company executives.
“Best-in-class head protection is a signature attribute of the Rawlings brand, and that core value is at the heart our new Rawlings NRG football helmet line,” Parish said. “The introduction of the NRG football helmet is significant on numerous fronts. First, it provides Rawlings the opportunity to offer a total solution, or total protection from head to ankle. And it delivers an extremely important message to team dealers, athletic directors, coaches, equipment managers, parents and players, and that is Rawlings is fully, 100 percent, committed to football.”
Presenters from Rawlings recapped the brand’s history in the game and its vision for football with the help of Cowboys Stadium’s $40 million video board above the field. Team dealers in attendance represented locally based sporting goods companies that work and sell directly to high school and college athletic directors, coaches, equipment managers and consumers.
“I think the most important thing to come out of these meetings is that Rawlings has a story to tell,” said John Lassiter of Midwest Sporting Goods in Tulsa, Okla. “They’ve put a lot of effort in getting their football product to this point and it’s pretty impressive. It’s a good story, good technology.
“The most impressive thing they presented was their concept of providing a complete program from uniforms to protective apparel to helmets to shoulder pads. It’s a complete package and maybe the only company in the industry.”
“I think that in just the last couple of years we’ve seen some real technological changes in football equipment and helmets,” said team dealer Bob Fawley of Capitol Varsity Sports in Oxford, Ohio. “Rawlings has recognized that at this point they needed to come to the market with a story and technology in place and, based on what I’ve seen here, that’s exactly what they’ve done.
“The football parent and coaches that are out there in the marketplace today want to know how their helmets perform and why. Not that many years ago that question wasn’t being asked. Now with the heightened awareness of concussions and the discussions that are going on, families and coaches want to understand why the helmet performs the way it does.”
“The helmet meets a real spot for us dealers, for quality and price, which we think will be great,” said team dealer John Stote III of Anaconda Sports in Kingston, N.Y. “I liked the way that Rawlings talked about supporting dealers, which in this industry always hasn’t been a strong point. They’re talking to us, they showed their cards, and they brought us in to show us.”