Mobile Virtual Player (MVP) is a motorized and self-righting mobile tackling dummy, which was developed at Dartmouth College. Now it is making its NFL debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
We covered the MVP last October, during Dartmouth’s eventual run towards a share of the 2015 Ivy League Title. Dartmouth and their head coach, Buddy Teevens, were ahead of the curve in terms of trying to curb injuries, specifically concussions, by eliminating player on player tackling during practice. The device was developed by the college’s Thayer College of Engineering. As concussion concerns mount in the NFL, the Steelers will be the first team to use this remote controlled tackling dummy.
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Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin first heard about the MVP from one of his staff members who played football at Dartmouth. The NFL has tried to cut down on injuries – specifically head injuries -sustained during practice, by implementing new contact rules. The Steelers hope the MVP will help their players improve their tackling skills under the new safety first system. Tomlin was quoted on Steelers.com recently speaking very highly of the high-tech tackling dummy.
“I imagine it’s a great tool from a tackling tech standpoint. In today’s NFL, with player safety the focus that it is, I think it’s going to provide opportunities to improve in that area without the hand to hand or man to man combat associated with that teaching.”
The Steelers are using the MVP while it is still in its beta testing stage. If the testing phase goes as planned the MVP will be made available for football teams at all levels in 2017.
The NFL is under a lot of scrutiny for their concussion protocol and player safety measures. As chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) becomes more prevalent among former players, the focus of the NFL and football as a whole, has shifted towards eliminating full-contact when possible.
In the short time the Steelers have been able to use the device they have seen the benefits and possibilities that it provides. Tomlin said, “The applications we are quickly finding are endless… All of the position groups are getting an opportunity to use it… you just put it on the field and watch the guys and they show you the applications.”
The NFL made changes to their practice rules to help eliminate injuries by minimizing the amount of full-contact practices. This change has forced coaches to become more innovative when it comes to simulating game action. Coaches have gone as far as to have players try and swipe at flags mounted to remote control cars, in order to simulate tackling situations. Dartmouth and the MVP were a bit ahead of the NFL on this. The MVP is able to mimic player weight, size, speed and agility. These mobile dummies allow teams and coaches to replicate game action, while minimizing injury.
The Ivy League is very close to approving a new rule for football that would remove all full-contact hitting during regular season practices. With the MVP, safety measures such as these become truly viable options for more football leagues, and maybe even the NFL. The engineers behind this revolutionary device are currently developing an autonomous tackling dummy as well.
The NFL is still the most popular sports league in North America, and its popularity continues to grow. However, as safety concerns mount, the league will have to follow the Steelers lead and look to technological advancements, like the MVP, in order to tackle their growing head injury problem.