NFL Teams May Replace Playbooks With iPads

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, how could we not give readers a little technology related NFL news? Whether you love it or hate it, there is no denying that Apple’s iPad has been hugely successful in a variety of scenarios. So much so that NFL teams are starting to take notice and could abandon their paper playbooks in favor of the iPad, provided the security is there.

Pete Walsh, head of technology for the Dallas Cowboys said that his team and a couple of others are entertaining the idea. Doing so would allow teams to review plays with graphics, have near instant access to overhead photos or even videos of previous plays, not to mention saving nearly 5,000 pages of paper per game.

The biggest issue with this move into the digital age is security. A team’s playbook is like the holy grail, so theft of data, whether wirelessly or through the loss of a unit, is a major concern. Walsh mentions that one delay in making the switch is that the iPad isn’t seen as being secure enough and that tablets such as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab; which runs the Android operating system, could be the tablet of choice if teams find that it provides a greater degree of security.

For tech-friendly sports fans, it’s an appealing image–coaches and players sitting on the sidelines of the giant Cowboys Stadium, iPads in hand, studying likely plays for the next few series, or sifting through overhead photos of the last plays in order to assess their performance, or that of their opponents.