The unlikely story behind Frank Reich’s face shield
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Notable big names across the National Football League are struggling with this mask situation.
There was Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid, infamously battling a fogged-up face shield on the opening night of the 2020 season.
Classic.
Jon Gruden, Pete Carroll, Kyle Shanahan, Vic Fangio and Sean Payton? Their laissez-faire behavior was downright expensive. Each of the five head coaches were fined $100,000 by the league for failing to wear face coverings in a proper manner on the sidelines.
Tack on an additional $250,000 fine to each organization, and after just three weeks, this is already a $1.7 million chat in the principal’s office.
The potential best solution to this mounting issue for head coaches around the NFL? A local painter in Jackson, Mississippi believes he has it. And the best part? He already sent you one.
“When I watched Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs, his face shield was fogging up like crazy,” Kyoung Lee said. “I know how to take care of that problem. The Sunnie USA is magic!”
Speaking with Lee on Tuesday afternoon via Facetime didn’t feel like the first time we had met. Lee’s product, a clear, anti-fogging face shield is named the Sunnie USA — a perfect fit for the vibrant, gregarious personality of its pitchman. Originally from Korea, Lee moved to the United States 22 years ago for a “Mississippi girl.”
The pair remain married today, and, as the pandemic set in across the South, Lee simply wanted to use his background in art and design “to help society.”
At first, there was a grand idea about using his connections in South Korea to send technology to Mississippi. The goal was to create millions of masks in Jackson.
Lee jokes that the government didn’t buy his plan, and ultimately watching Reid battle through a comical Thursday evening, huffing and puffing into a blurry face shield on national television, sparked his big idea.
Lee quickly created the anti-fogging face shields, packaged them up and mailed one out to all 32 NFL head coaches.
This past Sunday in Indianapolis, Lee got a nibble.
“He sent it to me a couple weeks ago, and we just kept it there,” Colts third-year Head Coach Frank Reich said. “I just kept it there and then I said, ‘Alright, I’m going to try it this week.’”
Colts fans quickly noticed the change on the sidelines during the team’s rout of the Jets on Sunday.
With the lopsided score in the second half, CBS’ play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan found time to make multiple references to Reich’s new-look face shield.
“It’s actually easier to breath. I think we’ll stay with the face shield for right now,” Reich concluded after the victory.
After the debut, word traveled quickly to Mississippi.
“Monday morning, I got a call from a weird number,” Lee said. “I answered, and it was one of the (Colts) assistant coaches. He said, ‘I am looking for Sunnie, Sunnie USA, Coach (Reich) wore it last night.’ I guess he really loved it.”
Lee was thrilled to hear the update and then connected the Colts blowout victory to the addition of the Sunnie USA on the home sidelines.
“I am so happy for Colts fans, you did wonderful,” Lee said. “Your team did a fantastic job against the Jets. Philip Rivers is on fire. Just like my Sunnie (USA) is on fire!”
In a year so murky with bad news, the good heartened nature of complete stranger can clear up just about anything.
“I appreciate it,” Reich said during his interview session on Monday. “It was just ironic that we got a package here at the office, looked at it and said, ‘Let’s just keep this around here. Maybe I will want to try this out one time.’ So, thank you to Lee from Sunnie USA.”
“Hey Frank, thank you for trying on my Sunnie,” Lee said in a message on Tuesday to Reich. “Good luck with your next game, I am rooting for you.”
Lee, here in Indianapolis, we are rooting for you, too.