The Philadelphia Eagles hope to stay on top of NFL tech innovation scene with their new helmet cams being used during training camp and preseason practices. The local CBS affiliate, CBS Philly, first broke the news last week that rookie defensive back, Blake Countess, was sporting a camera on his helmet in the hopes to gain a new perspective when reviewing video to correct mistakes.
The camera itself is a small device attached to the upper left side of the player’s helmet. When reviewing the footage taken by the helmet cam, players and coaches have a better way to see where a player is actually looking. Countess explained the importance of the camera’s footage, “Just seeing where I’m looking at and being more disciplined with my eyes. Throughout the play, if your eyes are bad, you’re probably going to get beat, especially as a defensive back.” Head coach Doug Perderson says that the cameras give a new vantage point for coaches to help players improve, “Are they in the right direction? Are they on the right reads? And then you can evaluate and help correct the player.” During the Eagle’s training camp Countess was the only one currently sporting a head camera, but there are plans to give cameras to receivers and quarterbacks.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
The helmet cams have been a growing trend across football, with more NFL teams adopting them during non-contact practices. Pederson, former offensive coach for Kansas, saw the technique used with Kansas City. The cameras have also been used by a lot of NCAA teams like Washington, Clemson and LSU.
These types of head cameras have been evolving and in 2014 Sports Video Innovations created a camera that is very small and built into the front of a helmet instead of sticking out to the side or falling off the helmet entirely. Those head cams are also safe for contact and game use. Many teams have been adopting this style of camera for player improvement, but they are also being used to broadcast during games so fans can see the player’s point of view. The only downside is many leagues are ruling out the cameras for game use, this still stands in with high school and college teams, but for the NCAA this could change by the 2017 season.
With more innovation of head cameras occurring, like new mounting, better video quality and more video storage, we will likely start seeing more views from the players during broadcasts.