NEW ORLEANS – With a microchip inserted into a player’s shoulder pads, it can be determined that a receiver topped 20 miles an hour on a jet sweep to the end zone.
It’s the technology.
With at least 30 cameras installed in each NFL stadium covering every boundary, and microchips inserted at both pointed ends of the football, the exact point where a punt flew out of bounds can be instantly relayed to an official wearing a portable device on their wrist similar to a smartwatch.
Technology.
With an AI-based betting analogy detection system, abnormal patterns that might suggest an official has a bias – or perhaps a vested interest in a particular team – can quickly prompt the NFL to look deeper.
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That’s technology, too.
Yet when everyone watching at home agrees with the TV analyst, the officiating talking head, the out-of-luck coach and the rest of the rabid fan base that swears the quarterback – let’s say Buffalo’s Josh Allen – really converted the fourth-and-inches stretch, well…
Technology still isn’t the final answer.
“It is complicated,” Roger Goodell said on Monday afternoon.
It’s a matter of integrity. If the NFL wants to avoid (or at least reduce) the perception that, for instance, the Chiefs are getting some special favor from the officials – “a ridiculous theory,” Goodell said – it can do itself a favor by using technology to better support the controversial calls.
Goodell undoubtedly is warm to the theme – and he’d better hope that Super Bowl 59 doesn’t come with a fresh dose of controversy when the Eagles try to extinguish the Chiefs’ bid for a three-peat crown at the Superdome.
“We want to use technology to assist and support the officials in getting it right,” he said.
He pointed to the benefits of the league’s “replay assist” initiative, which has enabled officials stationed at league headquarters to rule on obvious calls quickly, allowing coaches to keep timeouts in their pocket while efficiently flowing within the game. He expects that other types of plays, such as facemask calls (or non-calls) could be adjudicated by “replay assist.”
Yet the Commissioner still puts up a caution flag when it comes to using technology with Sony’s Hawk-Eye system, which the league utilizes for virtual line-to-gain measurements, to definitively rule whether Allen (or anyone else) made the first down or not.
Goodell mentioned the shape of “The Duke” (uh, football) is a factor.
Bottom line: More technology is coming, but maybe not for the situation that caused the confusion in the AFC title games.
Kimberly Fields, senior vice president of football operations, told USA TODAY Sports on Monday that, pending a recommendation from the competition committee, she expects that technology could indeed be incorporated to a greater degree next season in line-to-gain situations.
Yet like Goodell, Fields drew a line. She maintained that the human element involving officials will remain when it comes to spotting the football. In other words, after the ball is spotted – and officials determine where forward progress stopped – technology could then be used to determine whether a first down was achieved.
No, it’s not as simple as the computer-generated graphics that tell us whether that sizzling serve on the tennis court landed inside the line.
“Unlike tennis, we have body parts, arms and legs involved, where you can’t see where the ball is,” Fields said, describing a routine pileup…or the Eagles’ vaunted “Tush Push.”
If you think the chain gang is on virtual life support, think again. Even if the NFL advances to the point where it uses technology after the ball is spotted, Fields said: “The chain crew will always have a role. You still need a Plan B and Plan C to back up the technology.”
Since 2017, the NFL has used footballs with Zebra microchips, which enable the data used for the advanced statistics, Next Gen Stats, and supports other uses by teams. So a big piece has been in place for years.
Yet it can be a bit frustrating, or at least confusing, when viewers watch games with first-down lines superimposed on the screen but realize that officials on the field are operating under a different standard.
The testing the NFL conducted during the entire preseason with select regular-season games was a critical step toward implementing more technology.
“You have to be right when you do it,” Goodell said.
Fields indicated the data collected this season, including the preseason, answered key questions. On the 12 line-to-gain measurements averaged each week across the league with the tests, the measurement time was reduced to 35 seconds from the 75 seconds used with the chain crew.
“It’s about process,” Fields said. “This definitely checked that box.”
She also maintained that the accuracy rate in using the technology for marking punts out of bounds was 100%.
Still, the human element won’t ever go away.
That, too, can fuel suspicions that has added more fuel in recent years with the proliferation of legalized gambling. The NFL hasn’t had the type of officiating gambling scandals that have struck in other sports.
Yet a ramped-up conspiracy theory – or worse – might be one blown call away. Plus, a league that once considered any association with the gambling industry as taboo now embraces close associations.
It was merely a coincidence that on a day that Goodell defended the league’s game officials, Major League Baseball banned an umpire for violations of its gambling policy.
Goodell wasn’t asked about that MLB case or the ethics of his officials, but he was certain to vouch for the credibility of NFL crews. And, well, he hinted that the league is watching. Just in case.
“Our officials are evaluated in several ways,” Goodell said. “Not just the performance on the field, it’s things that go on in their own lives…We monitor that very closely in various ways.”
After all, the NFL is a long way from using robots.
