Mayfield Athletics, a Shelby Township sports equipment company, has earned a patent for its S.A.F.E.Clip football facemask clip that it says reduces head impact up to 35 percent. Another patent is pending for the next generation of the product.
S.A.F.E.Clip stands for shock absorbing football equipment. The clip is designed to absorb impact and redistribute it through the clip and facemask. This helps to diminish the force from reaching the head or neck area, ultimately improving the efficacy and performance of a football helmet.
“We have spent years perfecting our design and investing in the proper testing to achieve our ultimate goal of increasing the well-being of all football players,” says Justin Summerville, CEO of Mayfield Athletics. “We recognize and understand our product has the potential to revolutionize the game of football, and we take that responsibility very seriously.
“In our minds, achieving a patent was crucial to further solidify our product’s innovative and effective design,” he continues.
Rich Williams, co-founder and COO of Mayfield Athletics explains that S.A.F.E.Clip allows the facemask to slightly move backward and absorb impact forces through a shock absorbing insert inside of the clip. “These forces are absorbed and reduced, and then the facemask returns to its original position. All of this happens within a fraction of a second. It’s remarkable in its simplicity and effectiveness.”
Independent testing at NOCSAE-approved laboratories demonstrated the S.A.F.E.Clip dampened blows to the face and diminished the g-forces before they could reach head/neck area by up to 35 percent. S.A.F.E.Clip can be retrofitted to more than 95 percent of existing helmet and facemask configurations without any alteration, and takes only a few minutes to install.
