Antonio Brown’s very public grail quest for a new football helmet has ended with a clear winner: Xenith LLC.
The Detroit-based helmet and football equipment manufacturer convinced the Oakland Raiders wide receiver to wear its Xenith Shadow flagship model, bringing to a close weeks of drama. (Editor’s note: The Raiders on Saturday released Brown.)
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It means Xenith, which has begun to diversify its product line with athletic performance apparel, has an elite player it can use to market its merchandise.
Brown, 31, is one of the NFL’s premier wide receivers, a record-setting seven-time Pro Bowler, and had been in the news for much of August for his threat to retire if he wasn’t allowed to wear the discontinued Schutt AiR Advantage model he’d worn since his 2010 rookie year.
The NFL had determined Brown’s helmet was forbidden because it was more than a decade old, and new models of the same type failed to meet the league’s safety standards. Thus began his summer of discontent, sitting out training camp and preseason games, filing and losing appeals, while a replacement helmet was sought.
Now, he’s happy.
“NFL athletes have a choice in what helmet they wear. I choose Xenith,” Brown said in a statement. “It’s not easy to make a change like this so far into your career, but the Xenith Shadow was the only helmet that could fit my needs on the field.”
Brown held a series of tryouts for helmet makers and last week Xenith emerged the winner. A video announcement by Brown, shown handling the Shadow in a photo shoot, released Wednesday is the first element of what’s expected to be a multi-pronged business relationship between the star athlete and an emerging sports industry company seeking to a bigger piece of the industry dominated by the Under Armours and Nikes of the world.
Xenith CEO Ryan Sullivan gave The Athletic a brief run-down of how the helmet drama was resolved. The company connected with Brown via some mutual acquaintances and friends, Sullivan said, and that led to a series of meetings and helmet tryouts at the Raiders’ facility, at Brown’s home, and other locations in Northern California.
“The conversation we had with Antonio was born out of his search for a helmet that best fit his game,” Sullivan said.
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Sullivan was part of some of the meetings with Brown. He helped make the company’s sales pitch, touting the safety, customizable fit, range of vision, weight, and other features. Xenith boasts of its patented “Shock Matrix” suspension system inside the helmet that moves independently of the outer shell. The intent is to reduce brain injuries.
“That was core to us, making sure Antonio was comfortable and confident on the product he will wear on the field,” Sullivan said. “He loved it from first moment he put it on his head. It was really kind of love at first sight, or first try-on.”
In the video, Brown explained why the Shadow works for him: “Xenith allows me to be able to be flexible when I am running 20 miles per hour down field, to get my head around to track the ball to be able to make those nice catches.”
It’s unclear what other brands and models Brown tried, but all of the major helmet makers – Riddell, Schutt and Vicis – were likely involved.
Brown informed Xenith last week that he would use the Shadow this season, Sullivan said, and a deal was finalized before Wednesday’s announcement. The video announcement was quickly cobbled together for Wednesday’s release.
Sullivan said that the business partnership is more than just providing a helmet. There’s a holistic plan brewing between the company and player that will involve off-field initiatives. Without disclosing any details, the relationship between Brown and Xenith will be driven by community building, family and growing the sport of football, Sullivan said. He said the company and receiver have “shared values” that led to the business marriage.
“We touched on a number of other areas of our business, our product portfolio, getting to know each other,” he said. “Beyond the helmet, we’re creating a partnership together, bigger than football.”
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Xenith officials declined to talk specific terms of its deal with Brown. It’s not known if the relationship is for multiple years or if there is cash being paid by Xenith to Brown.
Drew Rosenhaus, Brown’s longtime agent, declined comment. He told SiriusXM NFL Radio last month that the helmet situation had led to a bidding war among manufacturers keen to land his client amid all of the hoopla – and that Brown would get paid to wear somebody’s helmet.
“On the bright side, as a result of all of the publicity that has accrued from all of our efforts to get him to wear that helmet, he has multiple offers on the table from various helmet companies to custom make a helmet for him and to pay him quite a bit of money,” Rosenhaus said. “So we have found, without getting into specifics, some very suitable alternatives. It’s sort of a happy ending even though he won’t be able to wear the old helmet anymore.”
Sullivan declined to comment on Rosenhaus’ comments. He did say that the deal proves that the decision to shift Xenith’s business strategy for primarily helmets to a wider variety of products catering to “the whole athlete” was the right one.
“This Antonio Brown opportunity, the fact he chose Xenith, in our eyes really validates that entire strategy and passion,” Sullivan said.
Xenith is owned by Quicken Loans Inc. chairman and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert since he bought a controlling interest and relocated the company from Boston to Detroit in 2015. (Disclaimer: Dan Gilbert holds an ownership stake in Courtside Ventures, which in turn holds a minority interest in The Athletic.)
It’s the third-largest football helmet maker in the $150 million market is dominated by Rosemont, Ill.-based Riddell Sports Group and Litchfield, Ill.-based Schutt Sports. Seattle-based Vicis, which has the top-rated NFL helmet for safety, is a relatively new entrant. Xenith has about 10 percent of the industry – one that has been roiled by lawsuits, bankruptcies and acquisitions — and last year began to pivot toward other retail offerings. Helmets, shoulder pads and receiver gloves have been most of the company’s portfolio, but it now sells athletic apparel and accessories such as hoodies, compression clothes, hats, tees, shorts and pants.
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That makes sense because of the ongoing decline in youth and high school football participation – the core of Xenith’s customer base for helmet sales.
“We aren’t blind to those industry trends,” Sullivan said. “But the decision to reorient was born out of all the effort, energy time and research put into understanding athlete needs.”
That’s why it’s likely future Xenith marketing with Brown will be for apparel and gear in addition to the helmet. There are only so many customers for a helmet that retails for $479.
While Brown will become a significant part of Xenith’s marketing, the company isn’t yet talking about its specific plans to use him. And he’s not the only pony in their stable: Xenith also has 15-year NFL veteran Frank Gore of the Bills and second-year back Nick Chubb of the Browns among the prominent players wearing its helmets. Sullivan said every NFL team has Xenith users and two of Brown’s teammates in Oakland, backup quarterback Mike Glennon and linebacker Tahir Whitehead, also wear its helmets.
None of those players are of Brown’s caliber, however. That said, to call Brown the face of Xenith would be an “exaggeration” according to Sullivan.
“We’re certainly thrilled to work with Antonio and have him represent our products on the field, and feature him in our social media and advertising,” Sullivan said. “This is definitely the beginning of something we’re really excited about with Antonio Brown.”
(Courtesy of Xenith)The Steelers took Brown, a two-time All American, out of Central Michigan in the sixth round of the 2010 draft. He proved to be a steal, setting team receiving records and becoming one of the NFL’s elite wideouts. Brown, who led the league with 15 touchdown catches last season, also could be a source of tension and Pittsburgh traded him to Oakland in March for a third- and a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft.
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Oakland, which was the subject of this season’s “Hard Knocks” on HBO, gave Brown a reported three-year, $50 million deal with more than $30 million guaranteed to make him the game’s top-paid wide receiver. What they couldn’t give him was a helmet he wanted.
Oh, and at one point during the helmet saga this summer, Brown was also in the news for suffering frostbite on his feet after a cryotherapy session.
But it was his helmet that kept him in the spotlight. Brown at one point suggested he retire rather than wear a new helmet, which he worried would restrict his on-field vision and affect his play-making abilities. He had worn a Schutt AiR Advantage model since entering the league. Schutt ended production of the helmet in 2014 and Brown was unable to track down one that would satisfy the NFL’s helmet rules.
The AiR Advantage was unusable not because it failed to meet safety requirements but because it was so old. The NFL forbids players from using a helmet more than 10 years old because the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment will not certify them.
Sullivan said Xenith’s helmet satisfied those concerns. It’s among the 34 helmets approved this season by the NFL and ranks among the top 10 helmets in the league- and players union-sanctioned annual safety tests. Xenith has five models on the approved list, but only the Shadow is worn by NFL players.
Brown’s helmet drama got a bit of a boost because Patriots quarterback Tom Brady publicly complained this year about the NFL outlawing the Riddell VSR4 model that he’d worn for many years and being unable to find a satisfactory lightweight replacement. It’s unclear what he’ll wear this fall.
Brown’s helmet was made at Xenith’s 66,000-square-foot manufacturing, design and testing facility in Detroit, where about 70 to 80 employees typically work producing up to 1,000 helmets a day. Youth models account for the majority of units sold, followed by high school, college and pro models.
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Xenith sent the silver helmet shell and accessories to the Raiders, who will handle application of the team logo and ensuring it fits Brown properly.
Sullivan declined to discuss the company’s profitability or finances.
“We’re having a strong year of growth and are on pace for our best year ever,” Sullivan said.
Ex-Harvard University quarterback Vin Ferrara launched Xenith in 2004 and Gilbert was said by Forbes to have put $30 million into the company through one of his investment vehicles. Also putting money into Xenith were New York City-based bank Allen & Co. and W. Whitfield Gardner of Gardner Lewis Asset Management in Pennsylvania, Forbes reported.
Sullivan declined to say if the company expects a spike in sales because of Brown’s very public choice to wear a Xenith this season, but he did hint that it could happen. He said he’s as pleased that the chatter around football helmet safety could get a positive boost from the situation.
“This is the kind of opportunity we live for. We’re hopeful this will change the public narrative about football helmets,” Sullivan said. “It will no doubt raise awareness for the Xenith Shadow helmet.”
(Top photo: Kevin Abele / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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