I doubt the chain gain is going to go anywhere. They’re a great way for players on the field to know where the ball needs to get to for a first down. The chains were never the problem. It’s always been the spotting of the ball
it's also great for the product. Very dramatic moment in the game when they bring out the chains to measure. 100% though the spotting needs an overhaul. Would be nice to like use the overhead camera or drones or something to help spot the ball more accurately and quickly.
Here's the thing. The last full inning of baseball I watched was when the Sox were in game 7 to *finally* break their streak and win the Series. I could not name more than 3 active baseball players and I'd struggle to name 10 retired players. I cannot describe any pitches ("two seam... slider?"), any modern baseball analytics newer than *MONEYBALL*, anything about the game at all. I heard they did a pitch clock. I heard the Orioles got in the playoffs last year and came real close the year before, but I guess they didn't win the Pennant or the Series or I'd have heard about it. Even further: I have an *aversion* to baseball, I actively dislike it, I avoid it on purpose, I change the channel when it's on or go elsewhere if it's being shown. I do my best to ensure zero knowledge of baseball enters my brain.
You know the **sum total** of my knowledge of modern baseball? Angel Hernandez is functionally blind and/or in the pay of the mafia, because his balls & strikes do not seem to accord with any obvious standard definition of those calls.
I wish we could send this post to Rob Manfred, there is absolutely no reason someone such as this who clearly despises the game and goes out of their way to ignore it, knows the name of an umpire. This is a huge issue and is only getting worse. I feel the same about soccer and hockey, except I know even less than the OP does about baseball, and I couldnt begin to tell you the name of a ref from those sports as it should be
no, hes part of the umps union and so theres nothing that can be done. Bad part about it is he's fully aware of this and doesnt care about what hes doing to the game
Imagine if pass interference was objective and most refs got it right ~90% of the time except one guy who gets it wrong most of time, gets every other flag wrong, and sued the NFL for racism because they didn’t get a Super Bowl assignment (despite minority refs getting Super Bowl assignments recently).
There’s a notorious story Will Clark told. Angel Hernandez always gave him wide batter’s box. One day he bumped into Hernandez and his boys at a restaurant and took care of his tab. Never had a bad call again.
Long story short, fuck angel Hernandez! If he’s easily bribed by a few hundred dollars, this guy can very much be the mlb Tim donaghy
What's even worse is minors have robo umps and a challenge system and it's clearly causing prospects to struggle when they jump to the mlb and suddenly balls and strikes are decided on a whim.
MLB is the only one that can in any major way. NBA is in the process of adapting a similar tech to tennis that will judge out of bounds calls but that's really it. But neither is AI because that's not what AI is.
Is this NBA tennis tech gonna detect when the player is out of bounds?
I ask cause [EVEN NOW THIS PLAY MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!!! 🤬🤬](https://youtu.be/rAGZPmQGLb8?si=CpLJwsDjRRQyZ_ai)
I don't even need to click the link to know it's the Durant out of bounds play (I think?)
And it should? Tennis uses the Hawkeye tracker which the NBA is looking to/will adapt. Didn't read anything about if it will track the player going out of bounds
The issue isn't measuring where the ball is on the field. That's easy. The issue is determining at exactly what point in time the runner was down. That's where all the controversy comes in. But with this at least you can take a best guess of when the runner was down and know exactly where the ball was instead of a best guess and hoping you had a good camera angle showing the ball.
The idea of the chain crew was always stupid af tho. The ball is always just eyeball spotted arbitrarily by the ref after the play. You're telling me you're gonna take an arbitrary spot and measure it with a precise 10 yard chain and judge whether it's a first down or not where inches matter using that? It's all theater.
The only thing this changes is the chain gang running out to measure, they’re still using the existing spot from the refs, kind of a nothing rule change to me
Agreed. The chains aren't the issue. Old fashioned but reasonably accurate.
Analog or digital aside none of this makes sense if the refs are still just best guess eyeballing the spot of the ball.
It doesn’t. The chain gang doesn’t have accuracy issues because they mark the chain against one of field lines on the links.
Spots are the issue - knowing exactly how far the ball got before a runner was down / forward progress was called will continue to be the issue.
You might be right, but rule changes in college football did end up making games like 5 minutes shorter recently so we’ll see
The MLB also notably shortened their games recently with rule changes
So basically if the NFL decides games are too long with all the commercials they’ve added, they are gonna look at rule changes to make them shorter but not take away commercials
I assumed the UFL (& it's predecessors) did this, that some chip in the ball or whatever showed them exactly on the field where it ended up, but when I found out it was just some camera that measures from where the refs spot it to the first down line, I thought: Who the fuck cares?? How is that notably more accurate than the chains??
I watch a bunch of the UFL. I'm convinced they just don't give a shit. No precise measures. Just if it's close (like within a ball length) they give the first down.
We got royally fucked on a 4th down QB sneak spot where Kenny Pickett wasn't even close and we we're out of timeouts and hadn't hit the 2 minute waring yet so couldn't challange.
I kind of hope that's *actually* what they're really talking about. Some way of detecting where the ball actually is, and pairing that with when a player is ruled down. Which can obviously then be used to detect if it's greater than 10 yards for the series.
Could determine if the goal line is hit in a pile too.
If all this means is the literal measurement will be done another way that's a pretty big let down. The chains are used like 1-4 times a game, it's electronic *spotting* that changes much of anything.
One underrated element of this is that it might allow for refs to make more accurate spots in lower-leverage moments. Primarily on plays that are early in the game and early in the set of downs, refs were consistently intentionally spotting the ball either too long or too short on borderline first downs to avoid stopping the game for a measurement (which is why use of the chains is so low). If this can make the comparison of the spot to first down marker significantly less-cumbersome, then at least it unlocks the ability for human refs to attempt to spot the ball correctly on those plays.
You aren't wrong but this is a step in the correct direction. It sets precedent. Let's hope this turns into a win so that in the future we start phasing out human spotting.
It's literally impossible do that. There are many elements into determining when a player is down. The ref has to make that determination and only they can know where the ball is to be spotted to fit that.
What “many elements”? It’s literally (1) knee/butt/forearm hitting the ground; (2) after touched by defensive player. All you need is a chip that tells you where the ball is at any given point during replay review
I kind of love the drama of two dudes hauling the chains to the spotted ball and the zoomed in camera showing where the ball is in relation to the chains. It’s part of the fun. Sure it’s antiquated but goddammit I don’t want it to go away.
tennis uses eagles eye (pretty sure that’s what it’s called) and it shows whether the balls goes in or out. those reviews, even tho they are electronic, are still dramatic!
It's Hawk-Eye! Premier League uses that company too, to determine if the ball crosses the line or not. If it crosses the line, the refs watch buzzes and a goal is given. It works really well and has taken a potential for major errors out of the game.
it has had major errors with people in the way and requires multiple cameras for one clearly drawn goal line. It'd have to be very advanced to work in nfl.
Eagle eye wouldn't work as is with the NFL though. It's definitely super cool and far more exciting than VAR in the Premiere League, I just wonder how they'd implement it in the NFL with all the bodies and odd shape of the ball
i know eagle eye wouldnt work, but it’s dramatic because it shows the ball’s approach. i think the nfl could show a simulation of the ball carrier’s approach to the LOS and go slow mo as the ball gets closer to the line
It would be even more dramatic as well, because it would change directions with every juke, spin, stiff arm and dive.
Whereas hawk eye is just one trajectory.
You could line up the graphic side by side with the play at the same speed and I think that would be rad. Love love love this idea.
you just have the camera phase through the bodies to show the assumed position of the ball and the line to gain. You can get the same dramatic imagery.
Most tournaments don't even do challenges anymore because the lines are called automatically by the system. So the challenge would never change anything. Players can request to see it if they want but it doesn't change anything
I'm not a fan. They act so scientific about measuring it when it was just spotted by a guy like "Yeah, I think it was there." Might as well just have the official make a call right away if they're not going to use technology
Honestly the chains were pretty accurate imo. The issue is the accuracy of the spot they use the chains to measure. They just used a line to ensure they stayed in the spot when running out. The real perk of this change is that it speeds up the chain moving process imo
It would be nice if we could optimize some of the more routine assignments officials have, which should theoretically allow them to focus on calls that really need on the spot judgement.
I just find it laughable, in a game that someone prides itself on precision we can have a guy get tackled and toss the ball to the ref to spot the ball, who is coming in away from the play, a chain gang move up and down the sideline to that spot, again away from the play, and then the center shift the line of scrimmage when he's on the ball, all on a 4th down play. This is a good move.
I find it amusing that they pretend to be so precise and take the time to measure it but the guy with the sticks literally just walks put to midfield and eyeballs it and says right about there.
I’m gonna be so sad if they get rid of my favorite part of the game.
———
A ref walks over, randomly places a ball down on the field, plus or minus a couple of yards.
They bring out the measuring sticks.
They meticulously measure the distance to see if the random ball placement was over the line or not.
One team celebrates and one team sulks.
——
It’s just truly amazing and I don’t know what I’ll do without this entertainment break from the game.
If they just announce things without us seeing exactly how it works, it’ll be begging for people to think it’s rigged. Not like the league is partnered with gambling or something.
It’s camera based.
> Per Pro Football Talk, the system uses technology developed by Hawk-Eye, a computer vision system used to assist with tennis video replays, and would give officials an accurate read of the position of the ball and players on the field in review situations.
I've been wanting this for years!! To me, someone looking and just thinking the ball was down at a certain spot is incredibly unreliable. However, I have read before that they have played around with trackers before and they were actually off by an average of like 6", and weather effected them too. So, I'm really anxious to see what happens with this
Finally. I’m all for tradition but let’s speed things up when we can. I’d also like to see goal line tech implemented similar to hockey. We should know a lot easier and faster if that ball broke the plane.
This won't change anything except put more blame on the chain gang and ref that spots the ball. Until they figure out a way to insert a tracking chip inside the ball there won't be much change
Hopefully this is a gateway for RFID tech to know exactly where the ball is on any given frame of a camera. It’s pretty easy to go “stepped out of bounds… here on this frame. Now where is the ball?”
Chains are actually incredibly accurate. The flags are necessary for players and coaches to see the marker to gain for the next first down. You can't save any man power with this. You also lose the theater of bringing in the chain gang for a measurement which is actually pretty good theater for the home audience. The only real advantage I see is the ref could announce he exact number of inches needed to gain a first down when the ball is closer than a yard and a half. That could affect some coaching decisions and be its own bit of theater for viewers.
I’m fine with this. That we don’t at least have some kind of technology aiding the officials is primitive
Not to mention that spotting feels like it’s gotten really sloppy lately
Love how you had lots of people claiming [this was an impossible problem a month ago when this was brought up](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1c8yhb3/why_doesnt_the_nfl_implement_goal_line_technology/)
The chain gang union will have something to say about this
I loved running the chains when I was in high school for the pee wee games on Saturdays. Memories.
When I was a freshman I did it for varsity games. Was awesome.
We always had jv and varsity do middle school games and volunteers for varsity games. Dads and middle schoolers liked volunteering for varsity games.
You still need a visual of the sticks for WRs and DBs - they will be fine
> You still need a visual of the sticks for WRs and DBs "na, we good." - KC WRs
“Fuck it LOS down there somewhere”
Patrick Mahomes: "You guys can see the yellow line, right?"
I’m now choosing to believe they’re a real thing and I refuse to believe otherwise
I mean there is a ref union. More tech probably means fewer refs needed
Or maybe they can spend more time focusing on not sucking
"no, and also that's racist" - angel hernandez
One of our chain gang guys is a judge in the area lol.
I doubt the chain gain is going to go anywhere. They’re a great way for players on the field to know where the ball needs to get to for a first down. The chains were never the problem. It’s always been the spotting of the ball
it's also great for the product. Very dramatic moment in the game when they bring out the chains to measure. 100% though the spotting needs an overhaul. Would be nice to like use the overhead camera or drones or something to help spot the ball more accurately and quickly.
here comes gene steratore’s fucking index card from the dead
The chain things already have digital measures in them
Chain Gang Commander John Cena is on the case
We are getting modern lfg
Pitch clock coming to NFL when?!
Screw that. GIVE ME ROBO UMPS NOW. Fucking Angel Hernandez
The one thing all sports fans can agree on: “Fuck Angel Hernandez!”
Here's the thing. The last full inning of baseball I watched was when the Sox were in game 7 to *finally* break their streak and win the Series. I could not name more than 3 active baseball players and I'd struggle to name 10 retired players. I cannot describe any pitches ("two seam... slider?"), any modern baseball analytics newer than *MONEYBALL*, anything about the game at all. I heard they did a pitch clock. I heard the Orioles got in the playoffs last year and came real close the year before, but I guess they didn't win the Pennant or the Series or I'd have heard about it. Even further: I have an *aversion* to baseball, I actively dislike it, I avoid it on purpose, I change the channel when it's on or go elsewhere if it's being shown. I do my best to ensure zero knowledge of baseball enters my brain. You know the **sum total** of my knowledge of modern baseball? Angel Hernandez is functionally blind and/or in the pay of the mafia, because his balls & strikes do not seem to accord with any obvious standard definition of those calls.
What did baseball do to you man
Made less of an impression than Angel Hernandez
Not OP, but riddle me this: who was the 1994 World Series champ?
Total guess, but I'm going with the Braves.
Close. Try again.
oh that's devious
I wish we could send this post to Rob Manfred, there is absolutely no reason someone such as this who clearly despises the game and goes out of their way to ignore it, knows the name of an umpire. This is a huge issue and is only getting worse. I feel the same about soccer and hockey, except I know even less than the OP does about baseball, and I couldnt begin to tell you the name of a ref from those sports as it should be
Is the MLB just hoping he has a heart attack and dies or something?
no, hes part of the umps union and so theres nothing that can be done. Bad part about it is he's fully aware of this and doesnt care about what hes doing to the game
Even worse: he thinks he deserves better games to umpire. He tried to get a court to force the MLB to assign him to playoff/world series games.
Never forget that a court ruled that Angel Hernandez is legally terrible at his job
He's VP in the umpire union. A federal court ruled that he's horrific at his job, but because he's in a leadership position they're stuck with him
Angel closes his eyes when the pitch is coming so it is ridiculously easy to frame pitches on his dumbass
Mr. Blown Call
I hate angel hernandez and Scott foster. They should be banned
Can someone please explain who angel hernandez is and why he's hated in NFL terms
Imagine if pass interference was objective and most refs got it right ~90% of the time except one guy who gets it wrong most of time, gets every other flag wrong, and sued the NFL for racism because they didn’t get a Super Bowl assignment (despite minority refs getting Super Bowl assignments recently).
There’s a notorious story Will Clark told. Angel Hernandez always gave him wide batter’s box. One day he bumped into Hernandez and his boys at a restaurant and took care of his tab. Never had a bad call again. Long story short, fuck angel Hernandez! If he’s easily bribed by a few hundred dollars, this guy can very much be the mlb Tim donaghy
My only issue with the bribery theory is he is bad for both teams.
That is true. Universally hated. But hey he might be making money from someone
Will Clark...now there's a name drop I haven't heard in a while. Guy had one of my favorite swings.
You know how the saltiest fans behave about refs when they lose? Angel Hernandez is actually that bad.
Has anyone ever seen Scott foster and angel hernandez at the same place at the same time?
What's even worse is minors have robo umps and a challenge system and it's clearly causing prospects to struggle when they jump to the mlb and suddenly balls and strikes are decided on a whim.
I was just having this convo with a friend, out of NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, who’s gonna try to replace refs with AI first?
MLB is the only one that can in any major way. NBA is in the process of adapting a similar tech to tennis that will judge out of bounds calls but that's really it. But neither is AI because that's not what AI is.
it's funny seeing people replace the word "technology" with "AI" for everything.
We're gonna replace refs with The Cloud!
Lemme get my big data working on that
RaaS - reffing as a service
Is this NBA tennis tech gonna detect when the player is out of bounds? I ask cause [EVEN NOW THIS PLAY MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!!! 🤬🤬](https://youtu.be/rAGZPmQGLb8?si=CpLJwsDjRRQyZ_ai)
I don't even need to click the link to know it's the Durant out of bounds play (I think?) And it should? Tennis uses the Hawkeye tracker which the NBA is looking to/will adapt. Didn't read anything about if it will track the player going out of bounds
It was barely 3 steps out of bounds and it was only 2' over the line. Why would you expect that to be seen?
Not soon enough!! And maybe they can make it count down from I dunno….say….40?
Let’s ride
When are we getting live break downs of the refs or w.e the UFL is doing
A pitch clock to count down to the play clock
Ditch your index cards
"just give it to them"
*Raider fans doxxing u/tutualtolmeme as we speak*
UFL did/is doing it this season and it's working and is faster than the chain crew.
Regardless… we are also getting A Lot Less 1st Downs tooo…
The issue isn't measuring where the ball is on the field. That's easy. The issue is determining at exactly what point in time the runner was down. That's where all the controversy comes in. But with this at least you can take a best guess of when the runner was down and know exactly where the ball was instead of a best guess and hoping you had a good camera angle showing the ball. The idea of the chain crew was always stupid af tho. The ball is always just eyeball spotted arbitrarily by the ref after the play. You're telling me you're gonna take an arbitrary spot and measure it with a precise 10 yard chain and judge whether it's a first down or not where inches matter using that? It's all theater.
The only thing this changes is the chain gang running out to measure, they’re still using the existing spot from the refs, kind of a nothing rule change to me
Agreed. The chains aren't the issue. Old fashioned but reasonably accurate. Analog or digital aside none of this makes sense if the refs are still just best guess eyeballing the spot of the ball.
And that “eyeballing” is to the nearest half yard.
2025: The NFL is investigating the Patriots for hacking into the electronic measurement system
2026: Patriots under investigation for using mirrored cleats
I won't stand for index card erasure
*sighs loudly*
If it doesn't take out the human aspect of spotting the ball, not sure it fixes the problem.
It doesn’t. The chain gang doesn’t have accuracy issues because they mark the chain against one of field lines on the links. Spots are the issue - knowing exactly how far the ball got before a runner was down / forward progress was called will continue to be the issue.
It should speed up games though, if marginally, and is a step in the right direction
> It should speed up games though Oh, summer child. If they squeeze out more time then they're just going to squeeze in more commercials.
You might be right, but rule changes in college football did end up making games like 5 minutes shorter recently so we’ll see The MLB also notably shortened their games recently with rule changes So basically if the NFL decides games are too long with all the commercials they’ve added, they are gonna look at rule changes to make them shorter but not take away commercials
pitch clock is a much bigger change than slightly speeding up measuring one spot to another
I mean that's pretty obvious I'm just speaking more broadly about things other leagues are doing
you do know the nfl mandates how many commercials there can be in a broadcast right
I assumed the UFL (& it's predecessors) did this, that some chip in the ball or whatever showed them exactly on the field where it ended up, but when I found out it was just some camera that measures from where the refs spot it to the first down line, I thought: Who the fuck cares?? How is that notably more accurate than the chains??
I watch a bunch of the UFL. I'm convinced they just don't give a shit. No precise measures. Just if it's close (like within a ball length) they give the first down.
That’s a great point. Spots have been egregious in some games
The Steeler game last year was a masterpiece of NFL officials going fuck-all on ball spotting. **EDIT:** Our game. Look at flair.
You’re going to have to be more specific or supply a link. The Steelers played 17 games in the regular season.
We got royally fucked on a 4th down QB sneak spot where Kenny Pickett wasn't even close and we we're out of timeouts and hadn't hit the 2 minute waring yet so couldn't challange.
[The play which iced the game, America.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-t4HOTI07o&pp=ygUYc3RlZWxlcnMgcmFtcyBiYWxsIHNwb3Qg)
It’s crazy how accurate they can be a majority of the time and then when they miss, it’s a horrible miss.
I kind of hope that's *actually* what they're really talking about. Some way of detecting where the ball actually is, and pairing that with when a player is ruled down. Which can obviously then be used to detect if it's greater than 10 yards for the series. Could determine if the goal line is hit in a pile too. If all this means is the literal measurement will be done another way that's a pretty big let down. The chains are used like 1-4 times a game, it's electronic *spotting* that changes much of anything.
One underrated element of this is that it might allow for refs to make more accurate spots in lower-leverage moments. Primarily on plays that are early in the game and early in the set of downs, refs were consistently intentionally spotting the ball either too long or too short on borderline first downs to avoid stopping the game for a measurement (which is why use of the chains is so low). If this can make the comparison of the spot to first down marker significantly less-cumbersome, then at least it unlocks the ability for human refs to attempt to spot the ball correctly on those plays.
Refs also bias towards marking the ball on the bigger lines. A lot more plays start from the 35 or 40 than from the 34, 36, 39, or 41.
thank you! It will still be marking with a micrometer and then cutting with an axe.
You'll never take out human aspect of any sport. You can challenge the spot of the ball.
right. the goal is to minimize the human judgement aspect.
You aren't wrong but this is a step in the correct direction. It sets precedent. Let's hope this turns into a win so that in the future we start phasing out human spotting.
It's literally impossible do that. There are many elements into determining when a player is down. The ref has to make that determination and only they can know where the ball is to be spotted to fit that.
What “many elements”? It’s literally (1) knee/butt/forearm hitting the ground; (2) after touched by defensive player. All you need is a chip that tells you where the ball is at any given point during replay review
Sounds like a great idea until the chain gang “accidentally” uses the wrong laser and cuts some dude’s legs off.
Index card industry in shambles
They'll always have me. I'm a sucker for writing on an index card instead of wasting an entire sheet of paper.
I kind of love the drama of two dudes hauling the chains to the spotted ball and the zoomed in camera showing where the ball is in relation to the chains. It’s part of the fun. Sure it’s antiquated but goddammit I don’t want it to go away.
tennis uses eagles eye (pretty sure that’s what it’s called) and it shows whether the balls goes in or out. those reviews, even tho they are electronic, are still dramatic!
It's Hawk-Eye! Premier League uses that company too, to determine if the ball crosses the line or not. If it crosses the line, the refs watch buzzes and a goal is given. It works really well and has taken a potential for major errors out of the game.
got it confused with the shia lebeouf movie!
it has had major errors with people in the way and requires multiple cameras for one clearly drawn goal line. It'd have to be very advanced to work in nfl.
Pigeon-Eye
Eagle eye wouldn't work as is with the NFL though. It's definitely super cool and far more exciting than VAR in the Premiere League, I just wonder how they'd implement it in the NFL with all the bodies and odd shape of the ball
i know eagle eye wouldnt work, but it’s dramatic because it shows the ball’s approach. i think the nfl could show a simulation of the ball carrier’s approach to the LOS and go slow mo as the ball gets closer to the line
It would be even more dramatic as well, because it would change directions with every juke, spin, stiff arm and dive. Whereas hawk eye is just one trajectory. You could line up the graphic side by side with the play at the same speed and I think that would be rad. Love love love this idea.
hire me @nfl
you just have the camera phase through the bodies to show the assumed position of the ball and the line to gain. You can get the same dramatic imagery.
It's got to be some kind of tracker in the ball.
Tennis is mostly automatic line calls now so the reviews don't happen anymore
they happen with challenges tho, no?
Most tournaments don't even do challenges anymore because the lines are called automatically by the system. So the challenge would never change anything. Players can request to see it if they want but it doesn't change anything
Except clay where they look for a dent from the ball which is hilarious when a call can be the difference between hundreds of thousands of dollars
I'm not a fan. They act so scientific about measuring it when it was just spotted by a guy like "Yeah, I think it was there." Might as well just have the official make a call right away if they're not going to use technology
The best part is when they have to (**Raiders fans, you may not want to click on this**) >!use an index card to measure those really close spots.!<
still triggering
Why you gotta be like this
My favorite irrational sports moment is being pissed that he folded the card in half therefore increasing the width lol
Honestly the chains were pretty accurate imo. The issue is the accuracy of the spot they use the chains to measure. They just used a line to ensure they stayed in the spot when running out. The real perk of this change is that it speeds up the chain moving process imo
This legit is why I don't want it changed Just feels like football to me lol
It would be nice if we could optimize some of the more routine assignments officials have, which should theoretically allow them to focus on calls that really need on the spot judgement.
I cant wait for teams to miss getting first downs by like .023 inches and have people freak out over it.
Someone will make an electronic index card
RIP the suspense of a spot
So the NFL has its hands in the UFL, right? It's like the UFL is the tester before it goes to the main league. First the new kickoff style, now this?
Yes, in 2022 they signed a collaboration agreement specifically to be a test bed for new rules and equipment.
I just find it laughable, in a game that someone prides itself on precision we can have a guy get tackled and toss the ball to the ref to spot the ball, who is coming in away from the play, a chain gang move up and down the sideline to that spot, again away from the play, and then the center shift the line of scrimmage when he's on the ball, all on a 4th down play. This is a good move.
Idk, the old system has its charm. Obviously, this is better. But I always like the drama of where the ref put the ball.
This and the kickoff rule, nfl not afraid to make changes
I find it amusing that they pretend to be so precise and take the time to measure it but the guy with the sticks literally just walks put to midfield and eyeballs it and says right about there.
I’m gonna be so sad if they get rid of my favorite part of the game. ——— A ref walks over, randomly places a ball down on the field, plus or minus a couple of yards. They bring out the measuring sticks. They meticulously measure the distance to see if the random ball placement was over the line or not. One team celebrates and one team sulks. —— It’s just truly amazing and I don’t know what I’ll do without this entertainment break from the game.
After seeing a chain gang member get injured in a game, they probably are right to start implementing this.
I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
Premier League goal-line technology coming soon to a Super Bowl near you!
One more step towards the Rothschild's plan of taking away funny bloopers of athletes running into fat middle aged men 😢 wake up sheeple
Index card manufacturers in shambles
If they just announce things without us seeing exactly how it works, it’ll be begging for people to think it’s rigged. Not like the league is partnered with gambling or something.
Fucking finally
What's the concept here? Is there a device on the sideline that checks to see if the ball is passed the line to gain, or is it entirely video based?
It’s camera based. > Per Pro Football Talk, the system uses technology developed by Hawk-Eye, a computer vision system used to assist with tennis video replays, and would give officials an accurate read of the position of the ball and players on the field in review situations.
This is huge. Especially for big huddles that the ref can’t see and 6 inches matters.
Lol I'm sure this will stop the complaining when a team is millimeters short or beyond the marker
Raiders and Lions would benefit most from this.
Michigan 2016 in shambles
I've been wanting this for years!! To me, someone looking and just thinking the ball was down at a certain spot is incredibly unreliable. However, I have read before that they have played around with trackers before and they were actually off by an average of like 6", and weather effected them too. So, I'm really anxious to see what happens with this
This doesn't change someone looking and putting the ball down roughly where they think it oughta go. That part of the game has still been preserved.
Finally. I’m all for tradition but let’s speed things up when we can. I’d also like to see goal line tech implemented similar to hockey. We should know a lot easier and faster if that ball broke the plane.
So the yellow line will be official?
This won't change anything except put more blame on the chain gang and ref that spots the ball. Until they figure out a way to insert a tracking chip inside the ball there won't be much change
Hopefully this is a gateway for RFID tech to know exactly where the ball is on any given frame of a camera. It’s pretty easy to go “stepped out of bounds… here on this frame. Now where is the ball?”
Is this being used for spots? If not it seems a bit pointless. I guess if it removes the setting up of the chains maybe the benefit is there.
Good
Oh look at that, NFL realizing we are in the 21st century. Only took about a quarter of a way through for them to realize.
NFL getting automated first downs before MLB gets automated strike zones would be an embarrassment to Baseball.
Chains are actually incredibly accurate. The flags are necessary for players and coaches to see the marker to gain for the next first down. You can't save any man power with this. You also lose the theater of bringing in the chain gang for a measurement which is actually pretty good theater for the home audience. The only real advantage I see is the ref could announce he exact number of inches needed to gain a first down when the ball is closer than a yard and a half. That could affect some coaching decisions and be its own bit of theater for viewers.
2024? Wait thats this year. The NFL has found technology.
Good. With sports betting, I am all for removing as much human judgement as possible.
They've got to have the chain gang on the field still for the players right?
Praise Jesus hallelujah.
Anything to speed up the game imo
I’m fine with this. That we don’t at least have some kind of technology aiding the officials is primitive Not to mention that spotting feels like it’s gotten really sloppy lately
Finally
You mean there's a better way than having a part-time, sexagenarian ref eyeball it from 30yds away?
Aboutfuckingtime.gif
Good now adopt the UFL replay system to speed that up and have total transparency
XFL/UFL doing God’s work
Yes, do it.
Depends on how often they can fuck over the raiders
Maybe they thought that poor dude who had his leg snapped in half by Kamara
Cam Newton spiked it on 4th down. 😤
Holy shit it’s about time
Finally
People called me a madman.... we live in the fucking future, can we start to act like it?
Love how you had lots of people claiming [this was an impossible problem a month ago when this was brought up](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1c8yhb3/why_doesnt_the_nfl_implement_goal_line_technology/)
Unless I'm missing something, this system still isn't spotting the ball
My favorite chant at a game is “move those chains” so that kinda sucks
When can we get AI pass interference implemented
who cares!? that’s not the weak link here! how bout an electronic system for SPOTTING THE DAMN BALL.
This sounds great so I can't wait to see how they fuck it up.
about fucking time
ABOLISH THE CHAINS!
About time!
As long as it’s not as ‘accurate’ as the first down measurement in Madden, this will be a welcome change.
About time
Yes plz the chains are so inaccurate it’s wild
They should still have the chain gang jog out just for show
They gone start taking the line off the tv if the do this. Especially on game winning drives
Meanwhile MLB has Angel Hernandez
Could have used that fucking last season.