SAN FRANCISCO – Every Super Bowl brings a buzz to the city that hosts it. But this year the Silicon Valley technology atmosphere around the Bay Area has added an extra special component to the Super Bowl 50 proceedings.
Gatorade is taking advantage of the hi-tech vibe this week to further position itself as a science and technology driven athlete nutrition company. Today they held a panel about their soon-to-be announced collaboration with Coresyte, Facebook, Spotify and Twitter on their new ‘Bolt Breakers’ Innovation Platform.
.@JJWatt & @De11eDonne discuss the training routines of the modern athlete #SportsTech pic.twitter.com/lapKO0Yfvw
— SportTechie (@SportTechie) February 5, 2016
J.J. Watt was at this panel to share his insights about how technology and science have helped him train as an athlete throughout his career. Watt was extremely knowledgeable of the science behind his own personal nutrition and is looking forward to the new initiatives Gatorade has in store. He shared a few minutes of his time to elaborate on what he spoke about on his panel with us. Below is the Q&A:
I’m curious about the evolution of technology in your athletic career from your days at Wisconsin to this current point in your career. How has your experience with technology as a player changed over this time?
I think technology has changed immensely. It’s still in the phase where it’s feeling itself out and how it can impact the game the most because there’s so many different things that you could technology wise. I think we are just trying to figure out as athletes and as a league in general where it all fits in. So whether it’s the tablets on the sidelines and photos compared to video or it’s Gatorade putting their stamp on things with this new technology that they have, everybody seems to have an idea and we just need to make sure that we get the right ideas out there.
Who’s responsibility is it to equip athletes with the best new technologies?
I do take a lot of it on my shoulders because I consider myself a leader of my team and a leader in the league where if I feel like something doesn’t fit I feel I should step up and say something. But if I feel like something is going to be effective I also step up and say ‘hey guys, we need to get this in here.’ It’s just a matter of having that trust and allowing people to listen to me with new technologies and I’m thankful that they do trust my opinion.
What avenues do you use to discover new technology?
A lot of it is word of mouth. It’s old school. It’s not even technology that gets me new information. It’s literally just speaking with other people around the league. Maybe I’m it’s a baseball guy I’m talking to. Maybe it’s Bryce Harper and we are discussing a product and swap ideas to try it out and potentially move forward. Or it’s seeing it on Twitter or Facebook and just reading about it and texting my guy and saying ‘hey can I get one of these? I think this would be cool.’
Every single athlete is looking for an edge. It’s all about how you can even be 1% better. And if there’s something out there that I think I can use then of course I’m going to use it.
The difference between good and great and great and the best is so, so small.
What’s the process like for working Gatorade in terms of implementing new technologies and sciences to athlete training?
Gatorade is a great company to work with because if an athlete comes to them with an idea then they run with it. And they obviously have the resources and the tools to make it happen. If I have an idea in my head and I say ‘hey guys, I think this could help my training or hydration’ and I can’t make it happen on my own without testing and research then I can go to Gatorade and they have all the resources to look in to it. They are very receptive and overall fun to work with because you can bounce ideas off them.
With being a leader of your team and the league overall, you’re in a great position to see new technologies coming. How much does that transition in to off the field opportunities for you from an investment and business standpoint?
I think that there are so many opportunities out there and athletes nowadays are becoming especially savvy in that category of trying to get in to the business world and making sure they do it the right way. And it’s cool; the opportunities that come to you are fun, and while you end up turning down 99% of them every now and then that 1% comes around that you really have to get involved in. For me it’s a blast. I just became part equity holder of a company called Mizzen and Main that is a dress shirt company that is a breathable material. I’m obviously on the road all the time. I throw it in my bag. It doesn’t wrinkle. It’s perfect and I love opportunities like this where I can use it myself and further the product.