After months of intense build up, finally, NFL is back and is shaping to be one the most exciting and unique seasons in history. With the level of competitiveness bursting the ceiling, not only teams, but the entire league has adopted a diverse range of technological aids to ensure a successful season.
We have broken down the new-age strategy of how each team will be optimizing performance and engagement and have identified three key systems that will no doubt have a profound impact on the 2015 NFL season. They are: virtual reality, tracking systems and broadcasting technology.
Virtual Reality
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With the NFL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement preventing players and coaches from lengthy meetings and practice sessions that were once allowed, virtual reality has filled that gap. Gone are the days where players would take home and memorise their 300-page playbook.
The quarterback can now put on virtual reality goggles and watch the plays unfold right in front of him as if he is on the field playing the game. “I put it on, and it took me literally two plays,” Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer told CNN. “And I was like, ‘This is so cool.'”
The Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots are all signed on to use virtual reality technology this season, as well as a number of college football teams. It will be interesting to see if the system forces any noticeable improvements.
Physical wear and tear, the need for rest and time constraints will all reduce significantly, which will benefit teams and their rosters in the long run. In previous years, teams have used video footage of either opposing teams or their own performance to gain an advantage at a mental level. This can be beneficial, however, real-life footage can never illustrate the perfect play. Virtual reality allows coaching staff – along with tech experts – to formulate virtual reality footage of every play in the playbook being run correctly to within an inch, something that humans just cannot do.
While it may not present the most realistic version of on-field nerves and intensity, it has the ability to singe routes and passes into the player’s mind, so that when the pressure mounts in a match, throwing the correct pass or running the correct route becomes second nature.
Tracking Systems
This season, every player, in every match, at every venue will be wearing one of Zebra Technologies’ radio frequency identification (RFID) tags under their shoulder guard. These tags, along with Zebra’s processors, will generate some of the most comprehensive data sources the sport has ever seen.
The upper deck of every NFL stadium is now lined with receivers – similar to cameras – that will capture every player’s movement for a whole match. With the use of these receivers collecting the RFID tag locations, the system will know the exact location of every player on the field within 6 inches.
“The possibilities are truly endless,” noted Jill Stelfox, vice president and general manager of Location Solutions at Zebra Technology, according to Wareable. “The players love this kind of tracking technology because of that. They’re professional athletes by every stretch of the imagination. They want more data about themselves — how they can stay hydrated better, perform better. Anything that can help them do that, they really want.”
Not only will this benefit coaching staffs and players who will use the statistics to analyse their performance in a variety of areas, but the information will also be given to health and safety professionals to continue to work on initiatives that prevent injury to athletes, in particular, concussion.
Wearable sensors have been slowly making their way into the sports market in recent times, but the system that will work it’s magic in the NFL is something that no one has ever seen before. The opportunities that this technology can uncover will change the face of professional sport.
Broadcasting
In the NFL’s continual quest to improve officiating, some broadcasting companies including Fox, CBS and ESPN will now begin to experiment with having cameras in the pylons of every NFL venue to use for select games throughout the season. This new idea is an attempt to give officials a larger variety of angles to make an accurate ruling from.
These cameras will ideally allow officials to have a better view of sidelines, end lines and goal lines. Did the ball cross the line? Did the ball carrier fumble? Was his knee down? These are all the questions that hope to be quickly and accurately dealt with during a game when on-field officials have their doubts.
There are questions being raised as to whether the cameras are needed. Just because there is some space for a camera doesn’t always mean that it should be put there, but in this case, some valuable perspectives can be broadcasted to officials, fans at the game and people at home.
“They’re not a live camera, they’re meant as a first or second look,” said ESPN’s Jay Rothman, “Monday Night Football” producer, according to the LA Times. “We had it in the preseason right away in the first series in Tampa. We used them in our second game and Jameis Winston went for the pylon for the touchdown.
“To help give that definitive look, certainly in a scoring situation — again, the goal line or end zone sideline as well as the sideline from the pylon looking down, foot in, foot out, two feet in, completion of the catch, that sort of thing. So I think they’re going to be extremely helpful in critical situations when you’re looking at the four corners of the end zone and at the goal line.”
If the system will aid on-field officials and give fans a greater perspective of the tight moments in a game, then the NFL should definitely continue to implement throughout the league.