Chain gang may soon be a thing of the past

[GimmeTheBall!]

Your name and the name of your contact in Finland?

Kevat, founder of the Helsinki Formula.

 

[Runwildboys]

I dunno, I'm just throwing out ideas. The curved surface is a real thing, though. If you put a laser on one sideline at field level you wouldn't be able to see it on the other side, right? So how do you compensate for the curved surface without having lasers on both sidelines? Beats the hell out of me.

It's best I stick with my career choice and let the experts worry about this.

I remember that curve of the old field used to be a home field advantage. Some QBs couldn't get used to how much it dropped.

 

[Runwildboys]

Yeah, I would imagine raised lasers. I mean, this is the NFL, so they have enough money to have a place like MIT or Amazon (who had a cool analytics thing on TNF where they would show the route after it had been run or showed the percentages for the likelihood of a play) develop a raised laser that can work similarly to what the chains were supposed to do. They have a laser when you watch on the TV. Maybe they can have a laser that illuminates where the first down is. So, let's say the Cowboys have it 1st and 10 at the 25. Then the laser at the 35 would light up to where it's clear where it needs to be.

An additional idea could be a drone that shows a laser. I watched a few USFL games last year when they were in Canton (still annoyed the ufl isn't coming to Ohio this year), and they had a drone with a camera that would zoom down the sidelines wherever the ball carrier was. They probably attach a laser or zoom the camera in on the spot to allow the refs a clear spot for the ball. In other words, the camera on the drone would spot where the ball is, then the laser on the first down line shows the position of the ball. If it's a first down, it turns green. If it's not, it turns red.

A laser on the field could blind people.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

A laser on the field could blind people.

Depends on how they do it. I think having it from a drone could help. If not a laser, perhaps there's a way to program the drone to where it knows the expected yardline for a first down. Then, where the ball is (identified by a camera and/or the chip in the ball registered to the drone) in comparison to the first down spot is where the determination is made. I'm just brainstorming here, but these seem like ways that they could use technology to make spotting the ball easier.


Here's another idea. In Madden, if you pause the game and zoom in, you can see exactly where the ball is. They could have the camera on the drone controlled by an Xbox controller that zooms in and out. They could have sensors in the field markings that can tell where the ball is, or that can, in conjunction with the ball, tell where the ball is during the course of a game.

 

[GINeric]

I'm just waiting on robots, it hurts me thinking of guys getting hurt out there playing a game for millions and having to wear stupid tats for the fans.
If they did go to robots, I'd hope they name the dumbest choking qb bot dak. I'd miss dak but if we had a choking robot it would be like he never left.
I can't wait for technology to get this done. AI to the rescue.

Damn.... no matter what the topic is, the trolls ALWAYS have to bring Dak into it. This has nothing to do with quarterbacks and the Cowboys specifically.

With that said, name me other 2nd team All Pro quarterbacks with a very good career winning percentage that are called "choke bots".

I'll wait.....

 

[ColoradoCowboy]

This would only affect the measurements for the first down, NOT the spot of the ball. Thus not removing the official's human error from the game.

 

[diamonddelts]

Don't fix what isn't broken.

Yeah why use precision tracking tech. A bunch of blind old men with chains "eyeballing it" is just perfect.

 

[America's Cowboy]

Yeah why use precision tracking tech. A bunch of blind old men with chains "eyeballing it" is just perfect.

The chain guys are not the problem. It's the officials on the field who spot the football.

 

[diamonddelts]

Its not a perfect game. Attempts to make it one, takes the human element away. Soon, no one will care anymore.

"We could take the stupidity out of the game, but we choose not to. Makes it feel more human." - MWH1967

 

[diamonddelts]

Damn.... no matter what the topic is, the trolls ALWAYS have to bring Dak into it. This has nothing to do with quarterbacks and the Cowboys specifically.

With that said, name me other 2nd team All Pro quarterbacks with a very good career winning percentage that are called "choke bots".

I'll wait.....

1000 yard stare coming to a playoff game near you in 2025.

 

[Captain-Crash]

Damn.... no matter what the topic is, the trolls ALWAYS have to bring Dak into it. This has nothing to do with quarterbacks and the Cowboys specifically.

With that said, name me other 2nd team All Pro quarterbacks with a very good career winning percentage that are called "choke bots".

I'll wait.....

damn.... it hurts you dak lovers feelings. Wait for the dak AI bot to get into the playoffs it will be sitting on the bench with a blank look on its robotic face with smoke coming out of its head.

Wait on.......

 

[MWH1967]

"We could take the stupidity out of the game, but we choose not to. Makes it feel more human." - MWH1967

now you get it.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The chain guys are not the problem. It's the officials on the field who spot the football.

Sure, but why not use more technology to help the officials on the field? Having a drone with a camera that can see exactly where the ball is could help with that. If there's an issue, then someone in the control room who's operating the drone can tell the ref where exactly the ball should be spotted would help speed the process up a bit.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Will the drones be stable in high winds?

I'm not sure. I'd imagine someone who served in the Air Force could probably overcome that.

 

[Scotman]

I don't know, the chain combined with the note card seems to work just fine.

I was just making sure no one had posted this already. LOL

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Who told you that?
With whom are you in contact?

Well, I watch a lot of Premier League Football, World Cup Football, and other football/soccer matches. They have a chip in the ball that helps VAR see exactly where the ball is. This, if there's a situation where the ball crosses the line entirely, they can see that as it is shown in green to be a goal. If the ball is barely touching the white line before it's saved, then it's considered a no goal, and the ref can see that in VAR.

I think there's already a chip in an American Football, but they could use it more efficiently and effectively. For example, if there's a pile following a sneak, then they can have it to where the chip can tell them in replay exactly where the ball is. Additionally, having a drone that zooms down the field with a camera can be effective as well to assist the ref.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The balls have been chipped for years. Only accurate up to six inches hence why they hadn’t ditched the chains.

Well, perhaps they can have an institution produce a stronger chip like what they have in Premier League balls. A stronger chip that can show exactly where the ball is would help. The way I see it, the chip would say where the ball is, and the drone could have both a camera and a laser. The camera would show where the ball is, and the laser would shoot exactly at the first down line. If the ball isn't touching the laser, then the laser and the chip in the ball turn red. If the ball is touching the laser, then they turn green. The operator, using the camera, would then be able to tell the ref that 1. It's a first down and 2. Exactly where the ball should be spotted.

 

[acr731]

A laser on the field could blind people.

What about technology more like your garage door sensors? Those are the sensors that tell your garage door not to close because something is blocking the sensors on either side of the door from seeing each other. If the tip of the ball is blocking the sensors, you have a first down or whatever.

Still, the curvature of the field might prevent sensors from seeing each other. I think these sensors might be infrared rather than lasers, so no risk of blinding anyone, I guess.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I don't think I saw this before. I've watched the Jetsons, I just didn't know they had a football episode.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

What about technology more like your garage door sensors? Those are the sensors that tell your garage door not to close because something is blocking the sensors on either side of the door from seeing each other. If the tip of the ball is blocking the sensors, you have a first down or whatever.

Still, the curvature of the field might prevent sensors from seeing each other. I think these sensors might be infrared rather than lasers, so no risk of blinding anyone, I guess.

Exactly, plus, they could probably have sensors they put on the field that can tell exactly where the ball is as well.