NFL Looking at Changing First Down Markers?
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New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
It appears the NFL might be making a change on the field that would change one key aspect of the game.
According the Washington Post’s Mark Maske, the league is looking at potentially employing technology that would replace the first-down chains, which right now, as we know, is handled by a crew on the field that physically moves the sticks.
The technology was apparently developed by the company Hawk-Eye, which is the same system that is used in Tennis and other sports.
Maske reports that the league has tested the technology, and the next thing will be to gauge the interest of teams and owners, with the possibility of the system being implemented by as soon as next season. However, NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent believes 2025 is more realistic.
It would be interesting to see if it works better than how the officials currently see things. As we’ve seen, that system has been less than reliable. We’ve seen poor spots and bad measurements, and this technology would potentially be the first step in solving that problem.