1980 founder bob mcdavid and terence fee headquarters woodridge illinois key people bob mcdavid ceo products sports safety apparel website official website mcdavid inc. is a producer of athletic gear and protective equipment founded in 1980 . contents 1 company overview 2 preventative use 3 use in rehabilitation 4 references 5 external links company overview edit the company s origins began in 1969 when the first widely used lateral protective knee brace for athletes was designed and produced by dr. robert f. mcdavid the father of the company founder . in 1980 his son bob mcdavid officially co founded the company mcdavid inc. to sell his braces and other sports equipment alongside terence fee currently vice president of operations . the company was founded in bellwood illinois and run out of the co founder s basement . bob mcdavid remains the ceo of the company . 1 2 mcdavid first produced prophylactic braces for joints including the ankle knee upper extremities neck and eventually most other at risk areas of the body . 3 by the mid 1980s mcdavid had revenues of about 1 million selling knee and ankle braces mainly to athletes from the high school to professional level . 4 it was one of the first companies to produce single hinge braces as opposed to those with a double hinge sold by mcdavid competitors . 5 in addition to braces mcdavid also produces a line of sports clothing pads and sports equipment sold in three lines sportmed composed of braces sleeves wraps guards and straps sports protection for pads supports and other cushioning products and performance apparel its sports clothing and equipment line . 1 hex technology items where closed cell foam padding is sewn directly into the fabric of sports clothing to protect at risk parts of the body . 6 in april 2014 nba player deandre jordan became a spokesperson for mcdavid . 7 dwyane wade was also a spokesperson for the company . 8 preventative use edit a 1992 study published in the journal of athletic training showed that there was only an insignificant difference in the effect a mcdavid ankle brace had on athlete agility and performance when compared to ankle tape however there was a four to one cost differential in favor of using the brace . 9 a 2012 study showed that the use of a mcdavid ankle brace created a two thirds reduction in ankle injuries among high school athletes . 10 in 1991 mcdavid knee braces were also shown to have preventative effects on knee injuries when worn during games and practices by professional football players however the efficacy of preventative use in high school and college was shown to be inconclusive in 1993 . both studies were published in the clinical journal of sports medicine . 11 12 the mcdavid football neck collar was shown in 2008 to reduce neck trauma in collisions to the head area redistributing force of impact onto the shoulders and upper torso . 13 use in rehabilitation edit mcdavid braces have been used in the rehabilitation of joint injuries in both athletes and non athletes . post surgery or non surgical treatment braces are used to keep the injured tendons muscles or ligaments from enduring undue stress . while studies have not shown that braces necessarily speed the recovery time after an injury athletes often choose to continue wearing the brace even after they have recovered from their medical treatment in order to increase their confidence in returning to competition . 14 references edit a b about mcdavid . retrieved april 18 2014 . mcdavid . businessweek . retrieved may 8 2014 . douglas mckeag & james l. moeller 2007 . acsm s primary care sports medicine . lippincott williams & wilkins . p. 574 . brian landman october 9 1986 . do knee braces cut down on injuries . the evening independent . p. section c page 1 . retrieved april 18 2014 . associated press october 2 1983 . teams experiment with new brace . sunday star news . p. 8d . retrieved april 18 2014 . vince checks out mcdavid company s hex sports gear . cbs . retrieved may 8 2014 . mcdavid to partner with deandre jordan . travel & leisure close up . april 4 2014 . retrieved april 18 2014 . dwyane wade re ups deal with mcdavid . espn . january 20 2011 . retrieved may 8 2014 . david l. paris 1992 . the effects of the swede o new cross and mcdavid ankle braces and adhesive ankle taping on speed balance agility and vertical jump . journal of athletic training . p. 255 . retrieved april 18 2014 . eric m. babins 2012 . lace up ankle braces reduced acute ankle injuries in high school basketball players . clinical journal of sports medicine . p. 379 . retrieved april 18 2014 . robert w. jackson ; et al. 1991 . an evaluation of knee injuries in a professional football team risk factors type of injuries and the value of prophylactic knee bracing . clinical journal of sports medicine . mario ms schootman ; et al. 1993 . efficacy of preventive knee braces in football epidemiological assessment . clinical journal of sports medicine . stephen bs rowson 2008 . biomechanical analysis of football neck collars . clinical journal of sports medicine . john d. hsu ; john michael & john fisk 2008 . aaos atlas of orthoses and assistive devices . elsevier health sciences . p. 387 . retrieved april 18 2014 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mcdavid sports apparel & oldid 743158927 categories 1980 establishments in illinoisclothing brands of the united statessporting goods manufacturers of the united statesorthopedic bracessafety clothing navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 8 october 2016 at 06 22 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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