Technology has revolutionized pretty much everything in the world that we live in. It has not even left the world of sports untouched. Ranging from the Jumbotron to the evolution of playbooks from the conventional clipboards to electronic playbooks that offer position-specific game film, it has benefitted the flow of the game a lot. Now coaches can easily break down film through technology with their tablets. The league has also been doing its part to integrate as much tech into the game.
If you did not know, every NFL player and referee in the game is tagged with an RFID or Radio Frequency Identification chip on gamedays, these help them to figure out multiple details about the player and also offer valuable tips on how safety can be improved for the players. With Data Science, you can now rewatch every step that any player has taken during the season, however, there is a bigger question, would it help if technology was integrated into the actual field?
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The NFL should consider integrating FIFA’s semi-automated offside tech to improve foul calling:
The foul calling in the NFL has been deteriorating, there is no other way to put it. Referees now hand flags like they’re candy and fans are getting sick of it. It is understandable that refs will get a call or two wrong once in a while as football is an extremely fast game, within the blink of an eye, your team can win or lose as a play can change it all.
FIFA faced the same issue and it has now adopted semi-automated offside technology that will help the referees issue better calls. There is an RFID tracker inside the ball itself and the stadiums have sensors at crucial points that cover pretty much every angle of the field. They also track 29 points of the player’s body and as soon as the ball or the player steps offside, the control room will be notified about this. This makes the referees’ job much easier. Now would the NFL benefit from such a thing considering that there have been multiple catches made by wideouts where it was a question if their toe was on the offside line or within the bounds of the field? Fans think technology could do more harm than good, and though the existing system is flawed, tech may not be the exact solution.
That most certainly does stir up a bit of debate but the league gets equally criticized for it as well.
Jason Kidd level of thinking. Do anything in your power to get a timeout.
That is true but change is the way of life, and tech is making the game much smoother at least for coaches and players.
Old is gold at the end of the day.
This is a very fair argument, whenever measurements are being taken and especially under the most crucial of situations when a team is on their 4th and down, leaves all the fans on the edge of their seats and it is an extremely nail-biting situation for them.
That is subjective, some would prefer that the measurements be on the dot while the rest cannot help but claim that the ball was out of bounds of in-bound, flawed calls do stir up a lot of hype and create multiple what-if situations which essentially make the league thrive in a sense.
What are your thoughts on this type of technology being integrated into the NFL? Should the league go for it or is it a bad idea? Let us know!
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