NFL considering iPad

According to information released during Super Bowl week, some NFL teams are considering abandoning the old traditional way of using playbooks and screen shots to call plays in favor of digital tablets such as the iPad. It seems like such a revolutionary idea at first and then after I gave it more thought I realized that the NFL is currently using equipment from the dark ages for play calling. A team spokesperson for the Dallas Cowboys said that the switch to an iPad could save the team more than 5,000 pages of paper per game. Over a soon to be 18 game season, that's 90,000 pages. Al Gore Rejoice. Side note, didn't he also invent the iPad?

The NFL likens itself to Radio Shack when it comes to team equipment. Only just a few years ago, radio's were installed in the QB's helmet so he could hear the play called from the bench. In today's digital age, the QB should be able to have a touch screen on his wristband that shows him the play or a screen on his visor. Come on NFL, catch up to the NOW.

If this iPad thing does get adopted by teams it should be nothing but beneficial. It will allow for players and coaches on the field to receive real time stats from the press box, be able to see videos of previous plays and also have access to the Internet for those times during the game when it's a blowout and all the backup QB wants to do is update his Facebook and Twitter status demanding a trade.

Back to the main point, we are in a unique time in sports history. The games have been played the same way using the same equipment for years now and that could all change very quickly once teams start understanding the benefits that these small tablets can provide.

In the future we won't see QB's sitting on the bench flipping through pages of screen shots like they are reading a case study or players receiving binders full with 500 pages of plays at training camp. Players will each receive an iPad with previously uploaded team content. This will make getting cut at training camp much more of a downer, not only did you not make the team but you have to give back your iPad of which you used more time playing Angry Birds than learning your assignments on the field goal kicking unit.