Officials had to stop play because of an equipment malfunction during the first quarter of Saturday’s NFC Divisional Round showdown between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
The reason? The chains used for the first down marker broke.
In a multi billion dollar business like the NFL, the fact that they are still measuring distance with chains instead technology is ridiculous and embarrassing.
Football is a precise game which is using non precise methods for measuring.
Soccer in the World Cup used twelve tracking cameras monitoring players 50 times per second and synced with an “inertial measurement unit” sensor inside the ball that allows officials to make offside calls in a matter of seconds.
There is technology available to measure where the ball is but we have to stop play to bring the chain gang onto the field to stretch the chains and measure where the ball is.
The USFL used chips in the football to eliminate chains to determine the first down marker.
Perhaps the NFL could experiment with this in the preseason and work toward incorporation into regular season and playoff games.
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg
Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Theredzone.org