By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Look good, feel good, play good.

It is not a new mentality.

It is one, though, that has certainly gained new meanings over the last 20 years.

Or, at least, the last 16 years for many of Portage County’s football teams.

Bradley Keck is a Vermilion High School graduate, who has worked for Riddell for 16 years.
Photo: @BKeckRiddellGuy

That is how long they have been outfitted by Riddell representative Bradley Keck, a Vermilion High School graduate, that has a territory hold on close to 80 programs in Northeast Ohio.

For Portage County, Keck’s teams include Crestwood, Garfield, Kent Roosevelt, Mogadore, Rootstown, Southeast, Waterloo, as well Hiram College.

New helmets. New shell color paint on the helmets.

New helmet decals.

New uniforms.

If it has to do with the uniform, Keck is the guy.

And he loves it.

“The job is perfect for me,” he said. “It has its stresses like any other job, but in the end, I love to do this. I have been part of and around sports teams since I was a little kid, and I take pride in the schools that I serve. I feel like I am an extension of their programs. I wish for them to do well and follow their scores throughout the season. I love seeing pictures from games and see them wearing our stuff.”

It is a career path that Keck did not initially see for himself.

He is from a family of teachers, and he thought he would follow after graduating from Hiram, where he played baseball, in 2005.

At the time, Keck was coaching baseball alongside his father and also serving as a substitute teacher for area schools.

A trip to a baseball clinic with his dad changed that.

Keck began talk to a vendor at the Riddell booth, which eventually led to the career he is still enjoying now.

“Never in a million years did I think I would become a salesman,” Keck said.

For Keck, though, it is less about the pressure sales pitches and more about creating relationships inside a sport he loved before he took the job 16 years ago.

“I get the opportunity to meet so many good people, and I have the utmost respect for all of the coaches and educators and the impacts they have on kids’ lives,” Keck said.

Keck actually entered the industry as a non-football representative.

“Riddell has always been known for its football product, but at the time I was hired, they were making a big push to be in other sports,” said Keck, who also previously coached football at Waterloo under head coach Mike Bohley and baseball at Waterloo under head coach Jim Conley.

The multi-sport push eventually faded, but Riddell kept Keck on staff after he had proven himself inside his small territory — and his life in the football world had officially begun.

His territory began with approximately 30 teams and he is now close to 80.

Each new team is a new opportunity to create another strong relationship and bond through the power of high school football.

“Every time I get the chance to work with a new program or a new coach, my goal is to gain their confidence and to be almost like a second equipment manager. That they can trust me, and that I can oversee whatever they need. That is the relationship that I strive for.”

Program needs shift throughout the season, with the actual season being the slowest time of the year for Keck.

Naturally, the weeks leading up to the start of the season are busy, then following the season, Keck connects back to teams to collect helmets and equipment for them to be reconditioned and rectified at the company’s regional plant in North Ridgeville.

Box trucks arrive to haul out all of the equipment, typically before Christmas, and Riddell’s goal is to have all of the helmets and equipment back to programs by May if possible.

Much has changed throughout Keck’s career, but maybe nothing as much as the emphasis on head safety and helmets designed to emphasize the initiative.

When Keck arrived at Riddell, the “Revolution” helmet had recently released and it was the first with a truly alternate shell shape designed specifically to improve side-impact protection.

Peyton Manning was one of the first in the NFL to wear the helmet.

“That was five or six models ago, which is crazy,” Keck said.

The newest Riddell helmet is the “Axiom,” which uses true-to-fit technology and is a helmet that Keck anticipates programs will begin transitioning to.

Each player’s head is scanned by an app on Keck’s phone that determines the specific size for each specific player.

All part of a new generation of look good, feel good, play good.