NFL Body Cam Could Revolutionize TV Coverage

It seems every other year the NFL comes out with a new way to bring viewers closer to the game. Ed Sabol's idea of mic'ing up players is the most popular and interesting, but other innovations like spidercam and the pylon camera have also enhanced the viewing experience.

In my best Ricky Bobby voice, with all due respect to those ideas, they look like a fifth grade video project compared to the body cam video the Colts put out today.

We've seen helmet cams during practice and we've seen QB views during games from a camera behind the quarterback, but we've never seen a player burst through holes, catch passes, juke defenders, break tackles, or have the opportunity to more closely feel what an NFL hit is like before this.

More, please!

Now, I don't know if the body cam Colts RB Marlon Mack is wearing here could hold up in a game, but if it can, every game (or postgame) should feature these types of shots. If it can't, some video technology firm needs to create one that can because this is pure gold. Put it on wide receivers, quarterbacks, defensive backs, pass rushers, hell, even put it on a punter and it would be cool. This is the closest thing I've ever seen to actually being on the field.

Now, I'm not saying this would replace the traditional coverage. You need the sideline view to get a full picture of what's happening on the field. But imagine watching a highlight from this view of Saquon Barkley leaping over a defender or TJ Watt sacking a quarterback or Stephon Gilmore taking a pick-6 to the house or Patrick Mahomes throwing a no-look pass for a touchdown. Well, maybe a no-look pass would defeat the purpose of the cam, but still. It would be the highlight of the week.

Even better, you get to be part of the huddle, see how players act on the field, how they set up and move off the line of scrimmage and even how their opponent tries to stop them. That's revolutionary for the common fan and I'm all-in on making it reality.

Of course, NFL teams and players would have to agree with this. There would have the be closely-adhered-to policies everyone agrees to in order to not impact competitive advantage. But all I can say, as a ravenous fan of both the NFL and getting closer to the action, nothing is better than hearing the calls in the huddle and then watching the execution on the field like this. We might not get all of the smack talk because of complications like FCC regulations, but even a watered-down version of this camera's capability (as we got with the Colts) is better than anything made yet.