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We have taken the first step toward robot football

The Washington Post writes today about 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk:

His skill set is hard to see on TV, and the data collected by the computer chips in his shoulder pads doesn’t really stand out.

Wait. Computer chips in his shoulder pads? Oh yes:

Two chips tucked within both shoulder pads on every NFL player will send out a wireless signal to receivers at every stadium. The data is used to better train players, helping with coaching decisions, and improves tactics for teams.

The data is monitored in real time at the company's command center in San Jose, California. During games, broadcasters get information almost instantly, and for the first time, the stats are delivered to teams the very next day.

That's from 2016. I really need to start paying closer attention to things.

11 thoughts on “We have taken the first step toward robot football

  1. Citizen Lehew

    Man, I am SOOO ready for the Ref-O-Matic 3000 to take over refereeing college basketball. Humans have more than proven they're incapable of this task.

    Wouldn't even need robots running around... a couple well placed cameras and some machine learning software would do the trick.

    1. MikeTheMathGuy

      a) I agree with you.
      b) My fear is that it would result in a foul call on every possession. I don't know what to do about that.

      1. Citizen Lehew

        I'm sure it could be tuned to a threshold that let's them play up to a point.

        The amazing thing would be the consistency! I can live with a few bad calls, or even many bad calls like we have now with humans, as long as both sides get called the same way.

      2. lawnorder

        If you had a robot ref that enforced the rules of the game fearlessly and consistently, maybe the players would learn to play by the rules without committing a foul on every possession.

  2. bebopman

    2016? Teams get the data the next day? I would think by now the teams get the data in real time. I surprised there aren’t chips In helmets to tell teams when a player has a concussion.

    1. pokeybob

      I suspect that the NFL does know in real time about concussions. If the truth got out about the reality of the brain injuries...

    2. Winnebago

      At least some of the data is available in real time. There’s a feature on the Amazon Prime broadcasts allowing viewers to track player movement and speed. I suspect much of the data is held until after a game’s completion for competitive reasons.

  3. kaleberg

    There's nothing on what they sense. Is it positional info? Shock info?

    Baseball was always about autonomous players on the field. Football was all very command and control. When football started to take over in the 1970s, it was a bad omen. No wonder so many kids have been taking up soccer instead. It's a much more American game with a high level of player autonomy.

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