How the iPad changed the NFL
The NFL season is sneaking up on American football fans faster than we know it, with all training camps starting up within the next two weeks. There's one thing that will be new to many of the NFL teams this year: iPads. NFL.com's Jeff Darlington provided an in-detail look last Friday at how the iPad and an innovative app are changing the way that football players and coaches sift through the mountains of statistics, game videos, and play diagrams that make up team playbooks.
We've discussed a typical NFL playbook solution -- iPads and an app called Digital Playbook -- before, but Darlington's post really points out how many teams have either started replacing paper playbooks and videotapes/DVDs with iPads or are about to. A quick survey of the 32 NFL teams shows that fully half of them will be using the iPad in one way or another for the 2012 season.
That's not counting the many teams that are letting players use personal iPads for video review purposes. Many teams are using solutions from Digital Playbooks or Global Aptitude to keep the playbooks secure, although players (like Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams) might do something dumb or spiteful and tweet a screenshot from the playbook.
Needless to say, iPads have found a place in NFL team locker rooms and on team airplanes, and we're likely to hear a lot more about innovative uses for Apple's tablet in sports as the season progresses.
[via CNET]
