How the iPad is Revolutionizing the NFL

While you won?t see any flashy iPads or high-definition monitors on the sidelines of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, those types of devices have started to make their marks in the locker rooms and training centers across the National Football League. And a wee bit of technological experimentation will even take place on the sidelines at the Super Bowl.

For the first time ever, this past season the NFL allowed two teams, the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to use 64 GB iPad 2s as their official playbooks. Players on those two squads left behind the days of flipping the pages of old-school three-ring notebooks that ran hundreds of pages in length for swiping through playbooks, mountains of video clips, and additional learning tools on each team-issued tablet.

Michael Koenen, a veteran NFL punter with the Bucs, says having everything loaded onto a single iPad serves as a one-stop shop for all his football information. By having the entire team synced to the same playbook, coaches can make one digital change that gets updated to every iPad on the fly. The teams even custom-designed apps for their playbooks, allowing personalization for each franchise, based on a coach?s whim. While flipping through the plays, players can take personal notes about their position, even drawing in additional movements or route adjustments to customize each play to specific positions or game circumstances.

iPads might be more secure than old-fashioned playbooks, too. The password-protected devices require two layers of security, rendering the iPads useless if someone other than a certified owner finds it. Team officials can remotely wipe it clean?if, say, a player who got cut made off with an iPad, and the tablet playbook found its way to an opposing team). The Ravens? version even clears itself after three consecutive unsuccessful login attempts.

While only two teams have officially loaded their playbooks onto iPads, a majority of other NFL teams use the devices for unofficial training. Tablets have already become a popular tool for players to watch game film; coaches can load clips remotely onto players? iPads and save the hassle and cost of ripping hundreds of DVDs each week or printing thousands of playbook and scouting report pages. Koenen says the wireless router on the Tampa team plane helps out, allowing the squad to watch the same film or position-specific cuts. And since this is an iPad, after all, players can do all of this while dialed into iTunes to give them a study soundtrack.

Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Williams says he loves that his team embraced the technology that the players themselves already use (for example, Koenen had previously loaded football video onto his personal iPad, a common practice throughout the NFL). "The iPad makes you go see extra plays," Williams says, referring to the ease with which he can study the different options and possible routes within each complex NFL play. "The video on there makes it even better."

It?s not just about watching game film and studying plays, either. Ted Ellickson, director of product marketing for XOS, which provides video editing software for 20 NFL teams including the New York Giants and New England Patriots, says his system lets coaches integrate football data (down, distance, formation, etc.) with video data to help create game plans. By calling up specified situations, coaches can completely customize the software?for example, a defensive coordinator could call up videos to find out what opposing teams tend to run on second-and-long following a run on first down. Coaches can then send that package of relevant videos remotely to players? portable devices.

Those coaches may soon have better quality video to study on their iPads, too. The NFL will use the Super Bowl as a testing ground for upgrading from standard definition to high-definition video, Ellickson says. Indianapolis Colts staff will record the Super Bowl in HD, which allows the utilization of MP4 compression to ease file transfers, a practice already in widespread use in the collegiate ranks, but still not adopted by the NFL. "Coaches want video five minutes after they get off the practice field," he says. "With MP4, we can do it."

Playbooks and video sessions get most of the attention when it comes to the team-issued iPads. But NFL teams are also using them to say connected. The Ravens, for instance, used their iPads to post strength and conditioning news, sync practice and meeting calendars, and post team emails and correspondence.

There has also been a growing drive to allow technology during the game, something that the NFL has thus far limited. iPads, computers, or any device that can record or play video are banned from the sidelines or press box during the game (even binoculars are banned). The NFL has long offered rules to ensure an even competitive playing field, but with the now widespread use of technology, those laminated play-calling placards may soon change, turning plastic play cards into glass iPad screens. "I?m sure it would help on the sidelines," Koenen says. "The coaches would love it." The NFL and its current on-field technology partner, Motorola, have an agreement that lasts through this year, so any changes to the rules could potentially happen soon.

The NFL hasn?t announced its plans for the 2012 season, but expect even more tech. "Yeah, I definitely think it is the wave of the future for playbooks," Koenen says. Maybe we?ll even see them on the sidelines next year in New Orleans, home of Super Bowl XLVII.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/football/the-nfls-ipad-revolution-6651161?src=rss

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