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The Chain Gang May Finally Be Going the Way of the Dodo Bird and Passenger Pigeon
Published:
Rob Maaddi at The Associated Press:
The NFL is moving closer to replacing the “chain gang” with new technology to measure the line to gain.
NFL executive Gary Brantley told The Associated Press the league will test Sony’s Hawk-Eye technology during some preseason games. The system most likely wouldn’t be ready for full implementation until next season, though it could happen sooner.
“We’re in the installation phase for all of our stadiums, really getting them calibrated and up to date,” said Brantley, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief information officer. “We’re just really getting to a place where this system is as accurate as possible and really calibrating across our multiple stadiums. … We have multiple stadiums with multiple dimensions inside of those stadiums with different age. So, we’re really just going through the installation of putting in the infrastructure and making sure these cameras are installed.”
Not Hawk-Tuah, but Hawk-Eye. This is a tracking system that can tell us where the damn ball actually is.
For all of the technological advancements over the years, it seemed a little goofy that we were still running a human team out there with two sticks and a chain. Refs are spotting the ball using their own two eyeballs and nothing else. So if we’re living in a sporting world that includes ABS and VAR, we should be able to update the way in which we locate the football in 2024. America’s most popular sport should use the best-available technology. The chain gang goes into the history books.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com