Ossining Man Invents 'Swagger Nets'

There aren't very many original ideas out there, but retired NYPD Detective Nelson Dones has come up with one. His invention is called Swagger Nets. The nets have the logo of a team or sponsor attached to them. The placement of the logos allows schools and sponsors to display their image in a prominent place, to show team pride or to get their company's message out.

Dones, who beat stage-four cancer during his 31-year career with the NYPD before retiring last year, has been tirelessly working to make sure that Swagger Nets becomes a household name.

Dones came up with the idea for Swagger Nets while he was battling cancer from 2000 until about 2005. During the illness, he had decided that he was no longer going to put off the things that he wanted to do. He also set his sights on coming up with a completely original idea that no one had ever thought of.

He says he was sitting and drinking a cup of coffee in the park that he grew up near on Manhattan's lower-east side when the idea came to him.

"So I sat there and I looked at that same basketball court that I played in, and I said, 'There's an idea. What if you could advertise on a basketball net or put your favorite team on it,'" said Dones.

Dones says that he already has a licensing agreement with 60 colleges across the country. The licensing agreement lets Dones' company sell Swagger Nets, with colleges' logos on them, in gifts shops and online.

So far, no colleges are using Swagger Nets during sporting events, but Dones says that he has been told that there are currently no rules to prevent Swagger Nets from being used in college sporting events.

Dones never takes life sitting down. He recently helped police find a man who had got into a car accident, ran away, and then fell into a ravine near his Ossining home. But what would you expect from a man who collared a known iPhone thief in Times Square a few days before he was set to retire from the force?

While Dones says the base of his operation is colleges, he is currently talking with Gatorade regarding putting their logo on Swagger Nets in New York City parks. He says that the reaction that he has received from the New York City Parks Department has been very favorable.

Meanwhile, Swagger Nets can be seen locally. Croton-Harmon High School has agreed to put the nets up in their gym.