Steelers Incorporate Mobile Tackling Dummies in Practice
Injuries, particularly concussions, have always been a major issue in football. With the help of some new technology, the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to stay healthy and protect themselves for the long NFL season.
First seen on the practice field of Dartmouth University, the MVP (Mobile Virtual Player) became a staple in how the team practiced.
The MVP is a robotic tackle dummy that allows players to practice tackling, while limiting the chance of injuring a teammate.
While it looks like a tackling dummy on a Roomba vacuum, it is far more sophisticated than that. This video released by Dartmouth shows how this new piece of technology works and how it limits player injuries during practice.
On the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last fall, Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens said the use of this new-found technology has reduced head related injuries by 80% on the practice field. No more teammates concussing teammates.
Watch Teevens interview on the Tonight Show and Colbert try his hand at the tackling dummy.
As talked about in the interview, the University received calls from several college and professional teams regarding this technology.
The Pittsburgh Steelers appears to be one of (if not ) the first NFL team to implement this technology in practice.
WATCH: Steelers test Mobile Virtual Player https://t.co/13kPZmQ21f
— NFL Mocks (@NFLMocks) May 20, 2016
According to the Steelers official injury report lists, five players were listed with concussions during the season. Antonio Brown was listed twice on that list, one at the beginning of the season and one during the playoffs. Multiple other players were listed with unspecified head, neck, and shoulder injuries.
And all of those were just during the regular season. Taking injuries out of practice is key for any teams success during the season. Not just that, but protecting a players long term health is now just as obtainable with the new MVP tackling dummy.