Zebra Enters Its Seventh Year with the NFL

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Transcript

00:00 Zebra will be entering its seventh season as the official player tracking technology of the NFL.

00:07 With its RFID chips embedded in the shoulder pads and footballs, Zebra is leading a data-driven revolution of the game.

00:16 Joining me now from Packer Central is Bill Huber.

00:19 Bill, Zebra is collecting a lot of data from players during games and even practices, possibly giving some teams competitive advantages.

00:28 How is this technology helping the Packers?

00:32 It's interesting. It's really top secret. I go back to, in years past, under former coach Mike McCarthy, he used to call it GPS.

00:39 It's not GPS. It's RFID, so it's a totally different thing.

00:43 But the Packers are one of about 10 or 12 teams that use Zebra at their practices.

00:48 So it's not just the game stuff. You go to the next-gen stats sites on NFL.com.

00:53 It's not just that, but Zebra is doing Packers practices as well.

00:57 So it's little things, you know. How quickly can a cornerback close the ball on a receiver?

01:03 If the linebacker takes a false step forward, how long does it take him to retreat?

01:08 It's a lot of little things like that, a lot of possible coaching points.

01:11 So let's talk about the future. You know, every week in the NFL, we see calls.

01:16 It's possibly a wrong first down or a touchdown.

01:19 Could this technology take the calls out of the hands of officials?

01:26 Yeah, I don't think so. You know, this stuff is really amazing, but it's accurate to within 6 inches.

01:31 When it comes to spotting a football, 6 inches is not going to do it.

01:34 At this point, the referees are still, you know, the official Zebras are still the best way to go.

01:38 I think maybe in time, maybe technology will catch up.

01:41 But for now, like it or not, people, the referees are going to be making those calls.

01:46 All right. Well, it's interesting to see how the tech is moving into the football space.

01:49 Bill, thanks so much for your insight on this. Appreciate it.

01:52 Thank you.

01:54 [END]