Cowboy invents success off the field with new tool for football players
Monday, September 25, 2023
Media Contact: Kristi Wheeler | Manager, CEAT Marketing and Communications | 405-744-5831 | kristi.wheeler@okstate.edu
In a game of immense physical contact and competition, yards lost because of a holding penalty can mean the difference between a win or loss.
However, thanks to a former Cowboy football player and inventor Ethan Howell, a new training tool could make some holding penalties obsolete.
He calls it Mittz, the first utility training glove for football players.
THE PROCESS
Howell, who has been involved in the game of football since childhood, first had the idea for Mittz in 2018 while watching a New Orleans Saints game.
“I was upset the Saints lost the game because a defensive player got called for holding,” Howell said. “And I wondered if there was something out there that could help with holding, but I couldn’t find anything in my initial research.”
After sitting on the idea for a couple of months, Howell decided to move forward with his brainchild and contacted the Inventors Assistance Service (IAS) at the New Product Development Center (NPDC), an engineering Extension outreach unit in the Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology.
After Howell’s initial application the first step completed by IAS was the market analysis report and patent search phase.
“The initial research was difficult because the only item we found was a story about an NFL team that was using boxing gloves as a training tool in practice,” said Brenna Davis Long, program specialist at NPDC, who completed the market analysis and patent search. “Once we found that, we knew Mr. Howell was on to something and referred him to Tim Hartman, a patent marketing agent.”
After the initial application and research report, patent drawings were completed by IAS interns. With assistance from Hartman, Howell was then referred to Mary Lee, a patent attorney, to begin the patenting process and finalize his application.
Mittz was granted a patent in June 2021.
THE PRODUCT
Mittz is a tool to help change performance behaviors that are commonly caused by unnecessary holding: grabbing and clutching.
“Mittz is specifically for offensive lineman, defensive backs, defensive lineman and linebackers — or anyone who commonly gets called for holding in games,” Howell said. “It is a training tool to be used in practices and offseason to gain muscle memory that will translate into games when players are wearing regular football gloves.”
As a Cowboy football alumnus, Howell took his invention to the coaches of his alma mater first.
“They loved the idea and gave me the opportunity to bring Mittz to try out,” Howell said. “After a few weeks, the coaches wanted to purchase more gloves for the team and, as a result, OSU was one of the least penalized teams on the defensive back side in the country in 2022.”
Since proving success through product demonstrations, Mittz is now being used by many other universities across the nation including the University of Tulsa, Clemson University, Kansas State University and the University of Mississippi, as well as high school teams and NFL players.
“Mittz was important to me because I wanted to develop a product for the sport that I am most passionate about,” Howell said. “I am very proud to have received my design patent and to have had the chance to develop the product at my alma mater and to share that success with OSU and the team at NPDC.”
THE FUTURE
Mittz is already gaining a lot of traction on the national level with the goal to expand to new markets within the next year including more high schools and universities.
“To see Mittz being used by OSU and other top Power Five conference teams is just an honor and a blessing,” Howell said. “The support from the IAS program, Coach [Mike] Gundy, Coach [Tim] Duffie and the Cowboy football program has been amazing. I look forward to seeing where we go from here.”
Photos: Hannah Davis and Provided
Story by: Brenna Davis Long | IMPACT Magazine