NFL 1st and Future Competition at Georgia Tech
The National Football League (NFL) has teamed up with Arrow Electronics and Georgia Institute of Technology for the 4th annual 1st and Future competition. The event is the NFL’s annual Super Bowl competition designed to spur innovation in player health, safety and performance. Two competitive categories were featured for this year’s event with the “NFL Punt Analytics Competition” and “Innovations to Advance Athlete Health and Safety Competition."
Think of a "Shark Tank" competition for football-related products.
NFL Punt Analytics Competition, where applicants had access to NFL data sets to inform submissions about rule changes designed to reduce player injury during punt plays while maintaining the integrity of the game. The four best submissions will be awarded $20,000 each and the winning teams will compete to win two Super Bowl tickets.
NFL Punt Analytics Competition Finalists
John Miller - Fort Worth, Texas [Proposal] Jeff Rayvid - New York, New York [Proposal] Alex Wainger - New York, New York [Proposal] Halla Yang - Wilmette, Illinois [Proposal]
Innovation to Advance Athlete Health and Safety Competition had submissions for innovations that could improve player health and safety. It includes but is not limited to: protective equipment, medical devices, sensors and training devices. One grand prize winner will be awarded $50,000 and two tickets to Super Bowl LIII, the second-place winner will receive $20,000 and two tickets to Super Bowl LIII.
Innovation to Advance Athlete Health and Safety Competition Finalists
Nobo - Milwaukee, Wisconsin (https://www.nobo.io/) SOLIUS - Seattle, Washington (https://www.solius.com/science/) TackleBar - St. Paul, Minnesota (https://tacklebar.com/) TendoNova - Atlanta, GA (https://www.tendonova.com/) TopSpin - Detroit, Michigan / London, Ontario, Canada (http://www.topspin360.com/)
The applicants from the two categories will face-off in front of a panel of judges including Geoff Collins (Georgia Tech Football Head Coach), Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons Head Coach) and Shawn Springs (former NFL Player and 1st and Future Winner).
During the program, a panel discussion will take place featuring Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner), Rick McKay (Atlanta Falcons President, CEO and NFL Competition Committee Chairman) and Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals Wide Receiver), being moderated by Scott Hanson (NFL Network and host of NFL RedZone).
The 1st and Future event will be taking place on Saturday February 2, 2019 at the Ferst Center for the Arts (349 Ferst Drive NW Atlanta, Georgia 30332) between 9:00-11:45 AM. If you would like more details on the event you can visit their website at www.nfl.com/1standfuture. If you are unable to attend in person, NFL Network will livestream the full competition, available at www.nfl.com/1standfuture/live.
