Auburn Equipment Manager Dana Marquez Wins Maxwell Football Innovation in Safety Award

Auburn's equipment Manager Dana Marquez is a master of many trades. He gained notoriety during the 2013 Iron Bowl for making some repairs to a player's jersey using a sideline sewing machine. He is on the SEC's concussion committee. The thing he is most known for now though is for designing a new set of shoulder pads that help protect players much more so than the old shells.

Over the last few seasons, there have been questions asked about a peek of the old Russell Athletics logo seen on an Auburn football player. Since Auburn left Russell Athletic for UnderArmour, this catches many off guard. Well, that logo is actually on the player's pads. Marquez designed these shoulder pads in conjunction with Russell Athletic. Clint Richardson interviewed one of Russell's VPs for us last season about them.

Those pads have been deemed so impressive that today it was announced that Marquez will be the first recipient of a new award given out by the prestigious Maxwell Football Club. It is the "Innovation in Safety Award," and will be presented in a ceremony on March 11th in Atlantic City. He is the second Auburn persona to be awarded an honor by the Maxwell Football Club. The first was QB Cam Newton.

Congrats, Dana! Keep doing great things and making Auburn University proud! War Eagle!