In an era where a person on average spends countless hours staring into a screen, we now use these devices to improve every aspect of living. Televisions, computers, cell phones and now tablets are used for gathering information, entertainment and undoubtedly details for work and business. Last year, I’m sure everyone noticed the prevalence of these tablets on the NFL sidelines.
https://youtu.be/NLddPakLF1I
If it weren’t for the same technology, the Buffalo Bills would have not been able to formulate any real game-plan going into Week 12 last season. Buffalo at the time was buried under record-breaking snowfall preventing many players from meeting, and the game was understandably relocated to Detroit. Their communication and digital adaptation paid off as they were able to ‘plow’ the Jets 38-3.
Apparently 3-D and/or virtual reality is the next step in how we will interact throughout our day. Get ready for all of us walking around and watching TV with these goofy goggles on. The newest attraction at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium is the virtual reality room. As a practicing tool this offseason, “Now, Tony Romo can throw crucial, devastating interceptions in the Matrix,” I thought to myself. On a more serious note, other players like safeties and linebackers will use this modern marvel along with more applications soon to come. Many college teams have already adopted similar programs. Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas, Ole Miss, Stanford and UCLA give raving reviews and solid testimonies regarding the results in productivity.
https://youtu.be/tyugr_rNqHg
“This state-of-the-art training will greatly benefit our student-athletes and makes Kansas a leader of Virtual Reality in sport… We constantly seek responsible and innovative ways to help our student-athletes and this cutting-edge technology brings a great opportunity to our football team.” –Sheahon Zenger, University of Kansas Athletic Director
“I think it’ll help us a lot, give us an edge…If we do this 30 times throughout the summer, it’s like our quarterbacks almost get 30 extra practices” –Dan Werner, Ole Miss Offensive Coordinator
As an organization it makes perfect, cost-effective, sense. After you load your lesson plan into this thing, a player can “bone up” on the plays and formations outside the normal practice time. To a higher extent in college, there’s a strict limit to the amount of time they can spend doing team activities; this allows a teammate to not only study a playbook on his off-time more, but also interact and progress, utilizing a multitude of lifelike football scenarios. Adding it to the normal rigors of the off the field routine, it’s a loophole of sorts.
The very first parallel that I momentarily draw up is with Madden, when it hit its popularity apex five to ten years ago. From player to fan, the console game ensnared everyone from ages 13 to 35, even to the extent that it had its own show. The premise of the “Madden Nation” was to follow around a bunch of video game enthusiasts, watching them play in a Madden video game tournament (or a football simulation tournament).
During segments of every episode, the gamer played against an actual NFL player. The pro players always stated they were big-time connoisseurs of Madden. The point I’m driving at is that they were asked if they thought the video game (or simulation of the game) translated into any way as improvement on the field. Replying in a nonchalant way, they revealed that it wouldn’t directly affect their activity, but if it did, it would only be something minor. But how cool would that be for Madden players? Knowing that if they were really good at a video game, they could possibly be the next great offensive coordinator, calling plays in the NFL.
This is where sports and the money it brings in meet a more-recent chapter of digital interfacing. They aren’t the only team in the league that is interested in jumping on the cyber bandwagon. The word is that the leading companies that make these technologies (STriVR Labs and EON Sports VR) have more orders placed in than they can deal with at the moment. Next in the line: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are already using VR with quarterback Jameis Winston–their first overall pick–and the Atlanta Falcons have recently signed up for theirs.
Former NFL quarterback and now STriVR employee Trent Edwards says, “I really like what this does in the sense that it develops trust with yourself. You’ve got coaches and other players on the field with you. It’s a perspective that no sideline footage and no end-zone footage can capture.” Best-case scenario for both the VR companies and the NFL is to have a dedicated room at each team’s complex for this gear. It should add a different spectrum of practice (Practice? Yes, we’re talking about practice… practice?) to every facility, but it makes me question investing in a tool that may still be in its infancy stage. I see it being a predecessor to something more game-changing in the not-so-distant future. As long as coaches think they can find new radical ideas and advantages over opposing teams, all feasible options will be explored.
