Why Five is Better Than Four

Sponsored by Rawlings Death. Taxes. Four-panel footballs. In life and football, certain things are a given, right? Guess again. With the introduction this spring of its patented, five-panel VR5 series football, Rawlings Sporting Goods not only continues to evolve football performance but the football itself. The concept for the ball comes from Jay Spiegel, a patent, trademark lawyer and inventor, whose passion for kicking began in high school more than 30 years ago. After studying engineering at Cornell University, where he was second-string varsity kicker, Spiegel played several years of semi-pro football in the Washington, D.C. area before turning what he calls a “grounding in the kicking game” into a more product oriented approach. His first football-related invention, the Ground Zero football kicking tee, is now used by every kicker in the National Football League, and by many