Deflategate will soon be a thing of the past. That is probably hard to believe for those people for whom the phenomenon has taken over the league. Tom Brady recently dropped his legal appeal of the four-game suspension to which he had been sentenced, though one wonders whether the decision will have any impact on online NFL betting odds and considerations.
Whatever the case, the league is quickly becoming inundated by rumors (and conspiracies) surrounding the computer chips that the NFL is planning to insert into the football during preseason and Thursday night games.
If they work, the chips will send signals to receivers installed in the 29 NFL stadiums, providing real-time data for later analysis. Of course, considering the fact that the NFL ruled, a long time ago, against the idea of recording air pressure information, it is unlikely that they will break their own laws by using the data chips to collect PSI information.
The technology to record PSI information has existed for a while now, and the NFL doesn’t need these computer chips if all they desire is to measure football air pressure. League officials were quick to dismiss ideas that the chips might be used to measure air pressure, Dean Blandino (Vice President of Officiating) telling NBC Sports Radio recently that the issue of collecting PSI information has never been discussed.
For Blandino, issues like the chain of custody, prevailing protocols and the like have always taken priority. Whether or not you care what Blandino has to say, some people might be alarmed by the idea that the NFL has never, at any point in time, discussed the rationale of using computer chips to measure air-pressure data.
For the NFL, technology capable of measuring air pressure has the capacity to keep them safe from judicial and scientific conundrums in the future. With this technology in place, it might be argued that the Tom Brady fiasco could have been avoided.
Then again, there are football fans that do not even believe in the validity of Deflatagate, instead suggesting that Goodell is using nonsensical claims about the inflation levels of footballs to re-ignite conversations about Spygate.
It is difficult to ignore the validity of using computer chips in footballs, especially when you consider the opportunities they provide. Previously, players had computer chips attached to their shoulder pads which were used to track their movements in real-time.
Among the considerations on the table, Blandino said that they would use the data collected by the chips in the footballs to determine whether or not to narrow the uprights.
People that love analytics will appreciate this project. Paul DePodesta, for example, new chief strategy officer of the Cleveland Browns, thinks that the chips will give him a more efficient method of evaluating his players.
With the chips in place, analysts can determine how fast the ball is traveling and spinning, this then allows savvy minds to evaluate the performance of quarterbacks and receivers.
The NFL is already looking into devices that can help spot the football more precisely on the field, though this technology is presently unavailable. They will have to settle for using the computer chips to track the speed and location of the ball.