According to SI.com, The NFL is integrating new technologies to improve the game of football. These devices are going to start recording different aspects of the game that can provide teams with certain advantages such as measuring a player’s strength, recovery, and movement. As stated by SI.com “The actual force a player can exert—perhaps an offensive lineman pushing back against a defender on the line of scrimmage, or a receiver pushing off from the turf to leap into the air—depends on both biomechanics and raw strength. Increasing that strength is why players spend hours in the weight room, but technology is offering advancements there, too. A system made by Sparta Science can measure the force a player applies to a measuring plate in the ground as he jumps and is used by several NFL teams. A wearable band by PUSH uses accelerometers to track the speed of reps, and has been used to evaluate NFL players’ ability to push a sled in training. Clothing by Athos can measure the activity of individual muscles by recording electrical activity on the skin, and has helped prospects train for the combine.”
Here’s an example of an NFL Quarterback, Marcus Mariota’s overwhelming strength, as he decleats Linebacker of the New York Giants, Alec Ogletree. (The hit occurs at approximately 5 seconds into the video towards the middle of your screen) Plays like this, with help of new technology, are now being measured of the strength it took to deliver such a hit or make a block- advancing the game, and allowing fans to show a little more appreciation for all of the long hours their favorite players spent in the weight room to deliver such a crucial hit.
With new technological advancements coming to The NFL every year, general managers and player evaluators are being provided with all sorts of new gadgets to test their players. These new tools have the capability to measure the strength of one of the NFL’s most unexpected positions, the quarterback, as seen on the crack back hit. Fans can now see different angles of the game, and different components that make their team championship caliber, specifically when starting in the weight room.