The NFL will have computer chips "inserted into each kick ball used during the preseason" to help determine whether "it's time to narrow its goal posts," according to John Kryk of the TORONTO SUN. These "instrumented" balls -- with accompanying tech -- will "allow the league's competition committee to determine, among things, precisely how far inside the uprights all successful field goals (as well as extra points) have been kicked." If the experiment proves successful in the preseason, the committee might decide to "continue such data gathering throughout the regular season, by using computer-chip kick balls only in Thursday night games." NFL Senior VP/Officiating Dean Blandino said the competition committee after the '16 season will digest findings from various studies and "determine, if we do decide to shorten the distance between the uprights, what is the right distance, and where should it be to make it a more difficult kick." Blandino "did not discount the possibility of doing that as early as" the '17 season (TORONTO SUN, 7/18). ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert noted the "chip program appears to have a larger intent than simply research for kickers." NFL teams were recently "informed of plans to use a chip-equipped ball for all plays based in part on feedback from a number of veteran quarterbacks." They were asked to "ensure that the chip-equipped football felt similar to the traditional football and that it did not act differently in the air." The NFL for years has been "investigating the possibility of using chips in footballs to help improve the inexact science of ball placement" (ESPN.com, 7/17).
