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sourcing. Then I took on all footwear and innovation, eventually head of all product and innovation and then became CMO. I served in many roles over the 20 years.
Kevin was a football player – American football – and I played lacrosse, which is a small sport here in the States, but quite popular now. Someone introduced us and said, ‘Hey, you should really meet this guy; he’s trying to sell these t-shirts – maybe you could help him get it into lacrosse. He’s trying to do football.'
So I went down and met him, and he showed
me these shirts. He loved the idea of wearing a compression short, but nobody made something tight-fitting for your upper body. His concept was that you can have a nice, tight-fitting shirt with proprioception, which is helping your muscles stay in form, helping with moisture.
He gave me some shirts. I wore them and they were amazing. I went back a couple of days later saying, ‘Hey, these things aren’t bullshit.’
Everything in American football had changed – the helmet, the cleats, the referee, the game, the television, everything, but they still wore a cotton t-shirt underneath their pads. It’s the only part of the game that hadn’t changed. It was that simple. It was time for it to change.
144 Feisty Underdog