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Drew Stanton, Arizona Cardinals donate gear to protect high school players' ribs, internal organs

Posted at 5:48 PM, Jul 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-25 20:48:37-04

With so much focus on concussions and CTE, we often forget about the rest the body when it comes to football injuries.

EvoShield is a sports performance company that specializes in protective gear for athletes -- and a couple days ago, EvoShield and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton delivered some very important equipment to the Mountain Pointe High School football team in Ahwatukee.

"I did it last year at my high school in Michigan and then said, Hey, I want to bring this to the valley," Stanton said.

The body armor the players received protects their ribs and internal organs. EvoShield teamed up with the Cardinals to donate dozens of units to Mountain Pointe's football team.

"Concussions are kind of in the forefront right now, as they should be, but the next in line is internal organ injuries, and especially with kids being different heights and size, weight, speed, everything, we're trying to give as much protection," Stanton said. "The nice thing is, you can get protection with also not losing any comfort."

Stanton said the protective gear molds to the user's body within 15-20 minutes.

"You go punch it, you'll break your hand if you hit it hard enough," he said. "When we were growing up, they had the ones that flack jackets you put on ... they served their purpose, but now, with the technology that they at at EvoShield, you know, it's remarkable."

Stanton said the fitting process is simple. He uses one himself and has for the last seven years. 

"You throw the shirt on and then everything slides in and fits to you," he said.

And the cost? Pretty reasonable for the protection it affords: Just $95 apiece.

In all, about 200 Valley football players were outfitted -- and Stanton is hoping they've just scratched the surface.

"Hopefully this is the first of a couple of schools we do here in the Valley," he said.