The NFL Should Steal This Technology from the USFL

[Gator Mike]

Seriously... if this works out for the USFL, there's no reason the NFL shouldn't be doing the same thing this fall.

 

[Dragda]

They stole the instant replay red flag. Why not this, too?

 

[Brick27]

I’m still baffled the NFL doesn’t have a camera pointed across the goal line of every single fuking game

 

[Captain Cliche]

I’m still baffled the NFL doesn’t have a camera pointed across the goal line of every single fuking game

Bill offered to have a bake sale to pay for them.

 

[1960Pats]

I’m still baffled the NFL doesn’t have a camera pointed across the goal line of every single fuking game

Maybe accurate calls would affect the fix.

 

[jah]

They stole the instant replay red flag. Why not this, too?

No, they did not.

 

[borisman]

I thought of this a few years ago. I also think this would work great at the goal line. If the ball crosses the goal line then an "alert" would go off. Just makes too much sense to not give it a shot or look into how this technology would work.

 

[upstater1]

I thought the reason why the NFL doesn't do it is pretty ironclad. Yes, the ball went over the line, but when did his knee go down? When did his elbow hit and he pushed the ball over?

It's a judgement call.

Every single time, if the ref's can't see it, it's a judgement call. Unless there's a rules change that says players can extend the ball once they hit the ground. Like in rugby. That would be fun.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Seriously... if this works out for the USFL, there's no reason the NFL shouldn't be doing the same thing this fall.

Except for the reason that the NFL has a doofus for commissioner.

 

[Sicilian]

I’m still baffled the NFL doesn’t have a camera pointed across the goal line of every single fuking game

I agree, but I wonder how often it would actually work right. Most of the time, if you can't tell very obviously that a ball crossed the goal line, it's because it's underneath a giant pile of bodies that would probably be blocking the view of that camera anyway.

What they need is some kind of chip technology that reads whether the ball crosses the line, but the weird shape of the ball probably makes that difficult too. You'd need a chip basically inserted into every outer most point on the oblong.

 

[Nehalem]

I thought the reason why the NFL doesn't do it is pretty ironclad. Yes, the ball went over the line, but when did his knee go down? When did his elbow hit and he pushed the ball over?

It's a judgement call.

Every single time, if the ref's can't see it, it's a judgement call. Unless there's a rules change that says players can extend the ball once they hit the ground. Like in rugby. That would be fun.

Yeah. You don't just need a track on the ball. You also would need the players to all wear the equivalent of motion tracking suit. It should be obvious why that won't happen.

With regards to first downs. It looks like they are tracking how close it is to fractions of a yard. Which is silly because the ball cannot possibly be spotted that accurately.

Now obviously the same basic problem exists for the chains really. But at least doing a chain measurement is good theatre.

 

[borg]

Do you "chip" just the tip, or should "girth" be monitored as well?

Not all elongated spheroids enter the promised land in the direction the major axis points

 

[XLIX]

Let's see how it works before wanting the NFL to steal it. I have a feeling this will be one of those things that sounds great in theory, but in practice will be the same clustermess we see all along.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Seriously... if this works out for the USFL, there's no reason the NFL shouldn't be doing the same thing this fall.

Would love to see this implemented but I have my doubts, I honestly think the league likes the judgement calls and power that the refs have over the game and won’t want to relinquish it to a perfectly accurate technology

 

[Scotty]

Has the National Union of Stick movers been consulted ?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Do you "chip" just the tip, or should "girth" be monitored as well?

Not all elongated spheroids enter the promised land in the direction the major axis points

I have no idea how it is done, but if one end of the football has a chip, they would have to add a 2nd chip to the opposite end because the ball flips end-to-end (or have some method to know which end is pointing downfield). If the chip is exactly in the middle, only 1 chip is needed because, independent of the ball orientation, the chip's position + half the length of the football always indicates the forward most tip of the ball.

 

[borg]

If the chip is exactly in the middle, only 1 chip is needed because, independent of the ball orientation, the chip's position + half the length of the football always indicates the forward most tip of the ball.

Center chip opens another can of worms....
Did the ball cross goal perpendicular or at angle....or in a parallel position

Distance of center chip to ball tip is 5.5"
Distance of center chip to widest pt on ball is 3.5"
2" gray zone league would either have to ignore or calculate based on ball angle.
Head ref might have to do some pythagorean theorem calculations

Head Referee Shawn Hochuli:
"Based on satellite imagery, the runner approached the goal line at an oblique angle determined to be 125 degrees that translates to a 4.6" distance from chip to leading edge, therefore, the ball is 0.4" short of the goal line. FOURTH DOWN"

 

[Chevy]

And then comes ChipGate where the Pats are accused of pushing rogue signals making the chips report crossing the line every down.

 

[Dragda]

No, they did not.

Was there another league that used it before the USFL?

 

[Pape]

The NFL already has chips in the ball... be easy to add a sensor net to the inner bladder... they use it for the next gen stats

the nfl would need to put sensors on players though to make it work... need to be able to detect a knee or whatever hitting the ground, determining the relative proximity of the player at that time... be difficult on the player end... what happens if it shorts out...

That Damn Belichick... he cut our sensors off!!!?!!?!