The NFL Won’t Use Hawkeye Technology for Determining First Downs in Regular Season Games
The NFL Tried Out Hawkeye Technology in Preseason Games but Won’t Use It for the Regular Season
Pretty Old School
The NFL is a billion-dollar industry, yet its aversion to technology has some fans annoyed with the way they still measure important first downs in NFL games with a chain gang.
Well, the league has tried implementing Hawk-Eye technology as made popular in spotting tennis ball locations to determine if the ball was in or out. This tech was tested quietly in last year’s Super Bowl – the chain gang was still the official system used for measurements – and it was used in the full NFL schedule for the 2024 preseason.
However, according to the latest NFL news, you won’t see this Hawk-Eye tech used in the 2024 regular season. NFL rumors suggest 2025 at the earliest for that because there were some inadequacies with the way the system that uses lasers and tracking cameras worked.
For example, there was a long delay in the Giants-Lions preseason game that would have been an easy call to make by the normal, humans-only system.
The Lions-Giants game featured the “Hawk-Eye” technology to measure for a first down.
It took a few minutes to make happen.
“Are we going to use it if it takes this long?” – Phil Simms (he’s doing Giants games this preseason: https://t.co/s3ZDsqMuYq) 🏈📺🎙️ pic.twitter.com/Y1qCsLPwO3
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 9, 2024
The last thing NFL fans want to see are long delays that could be easily avoided. The youth’s attention spans are already getting railroaded by TikTok, the last thing we need is adding even more time in between NFL plays.
But getting the call right is still crucial too as this absolutely is “a game of inches” at times.
There Has to Be a Better Way, Right?
The NFL has struggled with spotting the ball accurately for many years now. There was an infamous moment in a 2017 game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders where official Gene Steratore took out an index card to measure a crucial first down late in the game.
December 17, 2017
Sunday Night Football🖕🏻Referee 🦓Gene Steratore took out an index 🃏card to determine a late 4th quarter 1st down during the Cowboys vs Raiders game.
Days later, senior V.P. of officiating Al Riveron, “I would advise them not to use them again.” pic.twitter.com/wexCaMUy6r
— AFL Godfather 🏴☠️👓🏈🔥 (@NFLMAVERICK) December 17, 2023
Was it funny and memorable? Hell yes.
funniest NFL moment is still the gene steratore index card measurement pic.twitter.com/ndDCHIlOsT
— Rishi Rastogi (@rishiirastogi) August 23, 2022
Let’s Get Serious
But you really don’t want to see a game, one that people are betting serious money on, come down to a measurement like that. I always thought some kind of advanced GPS system with a chip in the ball that can instantly decide when the ball has moved past the marker or broken the plane of the end zone would be the best system. The refs can be buzzed that a first down was achieved.
But maybe the chips would get damaged during the game and become unreadable. Maybe it would be too hard to judge quickly if the ball carrier’s forward progress was stopped behind the line. Not every play ends at the furthest point the ball reaches. Just ask Marquez Valdes-Scantling after he ran backward for a 3-yard loss in overtime of the Super Bowl.
The chain gang has been used since 1906 in the NFL. However, the accuracy is where things have been… tricky.
So this preseason, the league is using Optimal Ball Tracking.
Is this the future? We explain ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/vNWYko0MQ7
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) August 26, 2024
At the end of the day, getting the call right is the most important part. In the somewhat rare event that the chain gang needs to come out for a dramatic measurement, it would be nice to think there is technology also making a read on the play’s outcome that can be verified.
Maybe in 2025, we’ll get that. Until then, the refs better keep that index card handy.
