Posted on 08/26/2011 6:36:30 PM PDT by greatdefender
TAMPA — Every year on every NFL team, the Turk nervously ambles next to players in the locker room, dorm room or cafeteria, his role a designated dream killer whose only job is to signal the death knell to somebody's career.
He delivers two messages: The coach wants to see you, and bring your playbook.
Well, never again in Tampa Bay.
Instead, he'll ask them to bring their iPad.
That's because rather than producing thick periodicals the size of the Yellow Pages, the Bucs have downloaded their playbooks on iPad 2s and distributed them to each of their 90 players.
What's more, players can use the tablet computer to reference video files of games, and practice and situational videos of any NFL team.
"It's crazy how much technology has changed the game," second-year safety Cody Grimm said. "Back in the day, I think probably the whole team had to sit down with a projector and a reel, and watch the film together. They'd have the whole offense in the same meeting room. Now we all have our own iPad. Stuff that we used to come in here to see, we can sit on our couch at home and have access to it 24-7. It's awesome.
"It's convenient. It's fast. I was snacking out on the couch and watching some film, and realized I was, like, two quarters through (a) game already."
The idea to download playbooks on an iPad was hatched by coach Raheem Morris, who used one to watch video of draft prospects with general manager Mark Dominik and player personnel director Dennis Hickey.
And because of the lockout, Morris watched a lot of video.
"We give these playbooks out, and by the end of training camp, we collect them so nobody sells them on the Internet," Morris said. "They become game books. If you need a reference to go back, you can pull up a blitz from camp and look at it.
"Then it got to the point where we said, 'Hey, let's put some of the video on there … from the season. How about practice? How would (Josh) Freeman like to go home and watch practice again? How would "Free" like to sit there and watch third down from Detroit and Miami so when he comes to work the next morning, he's seeing the tape again and putting it all together?' "
The people responsible for turning Morris' vision into reality were team director of football technology Chris Wells and video director Dave Levy.
It used to be if players wanted to watch film at home, they would have to get Levy's crew to make a copy of a DVD.
"You'd have to use your general remote to fast-forward or rewind," Morris said. "With this iPad, I can just flick through, and if that play doesn't apply to me, I just touch it and get out of there and go here, and there's third down. Get out of there, and let's go to the red zone. Okay, there's the nickel. It's a different deal now."
It's also a perfect study enticement for the youngest roster in the NFL, a group of 20-somethings who are gadget-giddy and technologically savvy to begin with.
"That's big ups to our organization thinking like that because it is the biggest thing right now and we have a young crowd," fourth-year linebacker Geno Hayes said. "It's pretty big to have that at your disposal."
Some veteran players, such as running back Earnest Graham (in his eighth season) and center Jeff Faine (in his ninth), still prefer to jot down notes on a pad of paper.
"But I think guys are really more likely to go home and take a look at their plays (with the iPad)," Graham said. "It's the way guys these days are about anyway. Now all of a sudden you've got to take your playbook home.
"It's not that guys don't want to look at plays, but it's the convenience. … Guys are accustomed to already doing things on their iPads anyway."
Morris said it took all of two minutes for Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer to approve the purchase of 90 iPad 2s at a cost of between $500 and $600 each. Like his players, Morris, 34, watches tape while listening to his personalized music soundtrack.
"I got my Jay-Z and Drake on my iPad, and Mason Foster playing to it," he said.
What happens if a player loses his team-issued iPad? Well, it's better than leaving a playbook in a hotel room in Foxboro, Mass.
"You've got a way to wipe (everything) off with the push of a button," Morris said.
iPad PING!
And will the QB have an iPod velcroed to his wrist during the game?
Why not all the players? The QB could have a wireless router inside his helmet. Change the play with a twitch of his toe.
Reportedly the San Francisco Giants have done this as well, with each player’s iPad crammed with obscure stats like on-base percentage when faced with a 3-2 count, etc. I’m not sure what the purpose of something like this is - considering how lousy Giants hitting is these days, they might have been better off putting vision tests on those iPads.
Hell that’s nothing, the Bengals gave each player their own pad of paper and a 64 count of crayons to share. When the roster is cut, they each get their own color to use all season.
and the bucks still can’t plan for squat
Keep going - everyone has a heads-up display wired through their helmet, with a dedicated skybox coach showing them weaknesses, patterns and opportunities in real time as each play progresses, as well as the most recent medical and ability statistics and weak spots for each opponent they face!
Keep going - everyone has a heads-up display wired through their helmet, with a dedicated skybox coach showing them weaknesses, patterns and opportunities in real time as each play progresses, as well as the most recent medical and ability statistics and weak spots for each opponent they face!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
"And starting at middle linebacker..."
Hmmm....
For what’s going to be downloaded to those iPads by the coach, couldn’t the same have been copied to a CD or to a zip-drive, with accompanying software, and then the player could have reviewed the plays on a larger computer with a larger monitor or a large TV screen which could be attacked to the computer? That could have saved them about $599 per player, since it’s likely that all of those players already have PCs and monitors and TVs at home already.
"iPads? Well hell son, that oughta make it easier for them to just email the darn playbook".
They don’t give a lot of details about the architecture. If I were in paranoid, can’t lose playbook mode, nothing would be stored on the iPad.
The playbook, game plans, and fIlm would be accessed remotely via secure app.
That said, the same architecture would work on a PC.
On the money side, $600 x 90 = $54k. It’s not a lot of money in the NFL. Furthermore, the increased security of secrets/assets may far outweigh the cost.
Sweet Jesus, enough of this. Oooh, wow, look at the old school organization using (inevitably Apple) new technology! Gee whiz, now our football team will be good. Just kidding...we’ll still suck, but we’ll be on the cutting edge of press stories.
Oh no, the Buccaneers have embraced the pro-abortion / gay marriage / global warming agenda! Egad! ;’) Thanks greatdefender.
How long will it be before the NFL starts putting players on the disabled list for carpal tunnel syndrome?
Gee, what kind of “unexpected” blowback is that going to cause?
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