Whether to check for an important email, an update on social media or the latest news, technology has become integral to our everyday lives. More importantly, the evolution of technology has streamlined daily activities and in the process, made our lives easier as well as more enjoyable in many ways. 

 

As technology continues to develop at exponential rates, based on Moore’s law, newly developed cutting-edge products are seemingly released every day. The rapid development and integration into our daily lives is happening right before our eyes. Just this month, Fox Sports introduced the first instance of augmented reality [AR] within an NFL broadcast. 

 

One of the newest outgrowths of this technological evolution is wearable technology. 

 

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently released its annual survey of worldwide fitness trends and wearable technology placed first for the second time in two years. 

 

Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, the lead author of the survey and associate dean in the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University in Atlanta, believes that wearable technology has already become indispensable to our everyday lives.  

 

“Technology is now a must-have in our daily lives. Everyone can easily count steps taken or calories burned using a wearable device or a smart phone,” Thompson said. “The health data collected by wearable technology can be used to inform the user about their current fitness level and help them make healthier lifestyle choices.”

 

The potential application of wearable technology, and the detailed insights provided by data, looms large on the landscape of the modern analytics-driven NFL. 

 

The rapid explosion and quick adoption of the technology at the highest levels of athletics is important to put into context, especially considering the traditionally slower adoption rates of technology into professional sports.

 

Many NFL teams have already integrated wearable technology into their routines, some examples include: 

 

The applications for wearable technology are seemingly limitless. 

 

The NFL Director of Player Development Matt Birk endorsed the potential of wearable technology within the NFL. 

 

"The possibilities are endless," Birk said to ESPN.

 

Former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins outlined his vision of the future NFL at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2015. Specifically, Hawkins believes that player evaluations, which are traditionally based on subjective judgement, will morph into rigid objective assessments based on data that wearable technology provides. 

 

The former wide receiver believes player evaluations will be streamlined and players will be provided data, instead of a conversation, as they sit with a coach during an evaluation.  

"Instead of them telling you that you've slowed down, they can hand you a piece of paper showing you that you're slower... And they'll just slide the paper over," Hawkins said to ESPN. "You'll look at it, get up and walk out. It will be pretty challenging to dispute."

 

The ability to positively influence the outcome of individual games, a team’s season or a player’s career cannot be overlooked. Both the collegiate and high school levels provide examples of football programs that are following the NFL’s lead in attempting to gain a performance advantage through the data that wearable technology provides. 

 

What we are witnessing today is a data-driven revolution that is changing our daily lives and holds the potential to drastically alter the landscape of the NFL in the future. 

 

New Orleans head coach Sean Payton, who is himself a firm believer in the technology, agrees. 

 

"I think it means there are going to be more MIT grads coaching,” Payton told ESPN.

 

The report, titled “Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2017” was published in the November/December issue of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal® and can be read by clicking the link. 

 

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