A reserve defensive back’s touchdown-saving tackle of what looked like a sure score for a top NFL wide receiver is what Zebra Technologies‘ John Pollard remembers most about the 2018 football season. 

Not because he had a rooting interest or a wager on the game, but because of the value his company’s RFID capabilities were able to provide to a coaching staff. 

“It was an explosive pass play of 20+ yards and the [team’s No. 1] receiver was sprinting down the field,” Pollard said at Zebra’s pre-Super Bowl LIII press conference in Atlanta, GA, leaving out the team and athlete’s names. “It looked like a sure touchdown. 

“On the game film,” he continued, “from out of the frame came a player from the opposing team who caught the [wideout] from behind.”

According to Pollard, the opposing offensive coaches wondered, “Who is this guy?”

As Pollard, the VP of business development for Zebra Sports, recalled, it was a fourth-stringer who ran 21 mph to make the play.

The player’s 40-yard-dash time – over 4.5 seconds – at the NFL Combine likely hurt his stock, Pollard noted, adding that the DB was viewed more like an undrafted free agent than a draft pick. However, the player’s blazing speed may find him a home with that squad in the future, per Pollard.

“That was directional information that led the evaluators to go back and study film and say, ‘This is a candidate for our team, perhaps, in the future,'” he said. “It also made me feel good that our data is providing more value than it has in the past.”

Zebra is in its fifth year of a five-year partnership with the NFL. During that time, the company said more than 150,000 plays of Next Gen Stats were measured, more than 13,000 Zebra RFID tags were deployed, and more than 3,000 players were tagged and tracked.

“The Zebra Sports Solution attaches RFID tags to player equipment to track their movements on the field, which enables coaches to gather performance data including speed, distance traveled, acceleration and deceleration,” Zebra’s Global PR Director Therese Van Ryne said.

Pollard said the RFID tags are about the diameter of a nickel – and about as thick as two five-cent pieces on top of each other. The tags comprise less than 1% of the football’s weight and are also located in players’ shoulder pads, pylons and yardsticks.  

“What the tracking technology allows us to do is put empirical evidence and information next to subjective grades that professional evaluators provide,” Pollard said. “This information is something that is referenceable. Another piece of reference when they’re building their scouting reports.
 
“The coaches and scouts are really enjoying diving into this more.”

READ MORE: NFL Next Gen Stats Powered by Zebra’s RFID Technology
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