Leftover Boeing 787 parts are becoming football shoulder pads

Instead of throwing out the trimmings from the giant sheets of composite material used to make the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing is giving them a decidedly more terrestrial second life. Russell Athletic announced the expansion of a partnership with Boeing this week, in which Russell gets Boeing’s carbon fiber seconds to make its CarbonTek football shoulder pads. The company notes that “aerospace-grade” carbon fiber is more durable and has a superior strength-to-weight ratio than the stuff you can get on the street, so everyone wins: Russell makes better pads, and Boeing doesn’t let any precious carbon go to waste. Just be prepared to spend several hundred dollars for the pads — or around the same cost as a coach ticket on an actual 787.