Former Seahawks star Shawn Springs is taking his game to the next level
Former Seahawks cornerback Shawn Springs is tackling a new challenge these days. He’s taking on impact protection, a field that can definitely help the NFL.
Shawn Springs had an excellent career in the NFL. He got 10 starts as a rookie with the Seahawks in 1997. The following year he made the Pro Bowl with seven interceptions, two of them returned for touchdowns. Springs spent seven years in Seattle before moving on to Washington. He wrapped up his 13 years in the NFL with a final season in New England. We won’t hold that against him though. Springs is now making his mark in business that’s as much a mission as it is a product line.
Springs started his company Windpact in 2011 to address the safety issues faced by not just the NFL, but any area that necessitates impact safety. His company won the NFL’s HeadHealth TECH Challenge this past April, the third time Windpact won an award from the league. Shawn Springs is working hard to make a difference. You can see the story for yourself in this piece from the excellent CBS Sports series, Side Hustle.
Springs has more in mind than the men who toil in his former career, even the Seahawks. He and his team are looking at applications in other sports, including cycling, automotive applications, and even potential military applications. Like so many other Seahawks, Springs was driven to achieve more than just a career in football.
As he told reporter Thomas Heath in an interview for the Washington Post, Springs was advised to see the NFL as just the first step in a career ladder. This prescient advice came from his father, Ron Springs, an eight-year NFL veteran himself. As Shawn Springs related,
"“Football is a platform for the next level,” his dad told the athlete-turned-businessman. “He told me to develop relationships, whether it’s a banker or someone at American Express, a real estate developer, whatever. I bought a stadium suite,” said Springs, now 43, which he shared with quarterback Mark Brunell. “It was about meeting people. About learning.”"
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So now we know that in at least one case, those astronomically priced suites actually can benefit the world. Springs credited Seahawks owner Paul Allen for a key lesson: invest in both your organization and your people. Windpact is a small company to be sure, but Shawn Springs expect it to have a big impact. We wish him success in his venture, especially as it could pay huge benefits to people in all walks of life beyond sports.