The Footage the NFL Won't Show You: All 22
 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...150731054.html



Every play during an NFL game is filmed from multiple angles in high definition. There are cameras hovering over the field, cameras lashed to the goalposts and cameras pointed at the coaches, who have to cover their mouths to call plays.

But for all the footage available, and despite the $4 billion or so the NFL makes every year by selling its broadcast rights, there's some footage the league keeps hidden.

Every play during an NFL game is filmed from multiple angles in high definition. There are cameras hovering over the field, cameras lashed to the goalposts and cameras pointed at the coaches, who have to cover their mouths to call plays.

But for all the footage available, and despite the $4 billion or so the NFL makes every year by selling its broadcast rights, there's some footage the league keeps hidden.

If you ask the league to see the footage that was taken from on high to show the entire field and what all 22 players did on every play, the response will be emphatic. "NO ONE gets that," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in an email. This footage, added fellow league spokesman Greg Aiello, "is regarded at this point as proprietary NFL coaching information."

For decades, NFL TV broadcasts have relied most heavily on one view: the shot from a sideline camera that follows the progress of the ball. Anyone who wants to analyze the game, however, prefers to see the pulled-back camera angle known as the "All 22."

While this shot makes the players look like stick figures, it allows students of the game to see things that are invisible to TV watchers: like what routes the receivers ran, how the defense aligned itself and who made blocks past the line of scrimmage.

By distributing this footage only to NFL teams, and rationing it out carefully to its TV partners and on its web site, the NFL has created a paradox. The most-watched sport in the U.S. is also arguably the least understood. "I don't think you can get a full understanding without watching the entirety of the game," says former head coach Bill Parcells. The zoomed-in footage on TV broadcasts, he says, only shows a "fragment" of what happens on the field.

For much of the NFL's history, seeing only part of the field wasn't a big problem. Passing wasn't as common, or complex, as it is today.

The NFL's creative geniuses were focused on the ground game and the lively run-blocking schemes that came with it. But as NFL offenses began passing more and sending more players into passing routes, they began stretching out the area in which plays are executed—making the All-22 footage more valuable. By the 1980s, when San Francisco's Bill Walsh began to perfect his pass-intensive West Coast offense, a scheme that involved moving the ball with quick, methodical throws, more of the game began to disappear beyond the edge of the television screen. Today's offenses, which routinely use four or even the maximum five receivers, have all but outgrown the traditional zoomed-in view.

Without the expanded frame, fans often have no idea why many plays turn out the way they do, or if the TV analysts are giving them correct information. On a recent Sunday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith threw a deep pass to tight end Delanie Walker for a 26-yard touchdown. Daryl Johnston, the Fox color man working the game, said Smith's throw was "placed perfectly" and that Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Corey Lynch was "a little bit late getting there."

Greg Cosell, producer of the ESPN program "NFL Matchup," who is one of the few people with access to All-22 footage, said the 49ers had purposely overloaded the right side of the field so each receiver would only be covered by one defender. Lynch, the safety, wasn't late getting there, Cosell says. He was doing his job and covering somebody else. Johnston could not be reached for comment.

Frank Hawkins, a former NFL executive during the 1990s who is now a Scalar Media Partners consultant, says he remembers the NFL considering releasing the All 22. The biggest objection, he said, came from the football people.

Charley Casserly, a former general manager who was a member of the NFL's competition committee, says he voted against releasing All-22 footage because he worried that if fans had access, it would open players and teams up to a level of criticism far beyond the current hum of talk radio. Casserly believed fans would jump to conclusions after watching one or two games in the All 22, without knowing the full story.

"I was concerned about misinformation being spread about players and coaches and their ability to do their job," he said. "It becomes a distraction that you have to deal with." Now an analyst for CBS, Casserly takes an hour-and-a-half train once a week to NFL Films headquarters in Mt. Laurel, N.J. just to watch the All-22 film.

Lonnie Marts, a former linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars, says there are thousands of former NFL players who could easily pick apart play-calling and player performance if they had access to this film. "If you knew the game, you'd know that sometimes there's a lot of bonehead plays and bonehead coaching going on out there," he says.

After he retired, Marts says he wanted to talk about the Jaguars on a radio show, so he contacted the video guy from the Jaguars—who was a friend—and asked for a couple of game tapes. Marts says he never heard from the guy again.

The NFL makes a handful of plays from the All 22 available on its web site for a fee, but they're often so blurry the players' numbers aren't visible. Earlier this month, the league quietly asked fans, through a survey site, whether they would pay up to $100 to watch an online feed of the All 22.

News of the survey made its way to NFL message boards and fan sites, where the response among football obsessives was wildly positive. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" said one message-board post. Another said, "The All-22 tape would be amazing. We'd actually be able to see what the safeties are doing."

On a Buffalo Bills fan site called "The Buffalo Range," one message-board member said "I've been dying for them to release it for years. Please help me stuff the ballot box."

The NFL says the league wasn't actually serious about releasing the footage. The survey was meant only to gauge fan interest, Aiello says. "There's not a product in development," he says. "This is a long way from becoming a reality, if ever."

I think we would really hate Cassel if we could see the All 22 footage.

FYP

That too.

No, he had it right to begin with.

We aren't stuck with these safeties.

We are stuck with Cassel.

The NFL continues to frustrate me. This is just one of the many things.

Not only that, you can work around bad safeties. Can't work around a bad QB.

VeeGer demands the information.

FAX

I want the footage. Now.

"I don't think you can get a full understanding without watching the entirety of the game," says former head coach Bill Parcells. The zoomed-in footage on TV broadcasts, he says, only shows a "fragment" of what happens on the field.


I find this as bullshit.. There are plenty of guys here that know the game based off the TV "game tape" along with every assignment and play.


Parcells is full of shit and guys like Hamas and OTWP would ****ing own him in footbal related issues...

How long ago was the survey? Good find. Always wondered why there seemed to be such a limited number of angles with all those cameras.

Perhaps technology could solve this? Law Enforcement wears mini-cams to record arrests, etc. If enough smart fans, armed with the technology, could record these views, then uploading it (charging a small fee) -it would perhaps force the NFL to make it available. I know, copyright laws & lawsuits to follow thereafter . . .

BTW, if you ever watch the NBC Sunday Night game on the web, they have a multiple angle option where you can choose from rare TV views like the endzone cams and the overhead cam. Its kind of fun to watch a game from a different perspective for a few minutes or the whole game if you wish.

U MAD BRO!?

Nope not at all..

Actually pretty chilled today... Getting ready for a 3-4 day weekend starting tomorrow.

All is well in the heartland...

Well except the damn earthquakes keep knocking shit over around the house...

he didn't even mention mecca!

OR Dane....


I must be slipping or they are falling into the depths of no one gives a shit anymore?

dane who? yeah you're probably right. but gimme the all-22, even if its only on big plays. i love it

Time for a lawn chair, some helium, a camera, and a few snacks.

Kinda funny that they talk about upping the level of criticism. I was an intern at NFL Films for NFL Network's "Playbook" show, where they have the All 22 footage available from every play of the last 8 years or so. The first thing my boss said when we met him, "My job is based on mistakes. Nearly every big play involves some kind of a stupid mistake and it's my job to point that out. I'm out of a job if these guys played a perfect game."

Anyway, that was an awesome summer, just hanging out & watching the tape all day. I'd love to see it made available, but I don't think it's ever going to happen. Only complaint I have is that the quality is horrible. If they did it in hi-def and made it available, I wouldn't do a damn thing but sit at home & watch it...

I wouldn't mind seeing this on occasion just to see how defensive backfields operate. You never see what happens in the defensive backfield until the ball is in the air, which is a bit frustrating.

The other thing that annoys me is that the cameras cut away from the end of the play way too quickly. I'll see a tackle and then maybe another guy or two diving in, and then they cut away before the players get up, and I can't tell who was in on the tackle. Or sometimes I'll see a player jogging lazily when he could be delivering a hit at the end of a play, and then they cut away before I can identify the player. I don't want to see closeups of the quarterback's face afterward. I want to see who was near the play and who wasn't.

Well not so fast.

One of the early arguments about Cassell was whether or not he was holding the ball too long and missing open receivers or were the receivers just so bad they were never open. Of course now we've had a few years and we all blame Cassell, but in the beginning it wasn't so clear. Guys would come back from the games with completely different opinions about it. If we had had the full 22 viewpoint this wouldn't have even been anything to argue about.

blah blah blah if we had the full 22 we could make even more threads about matt cassell sucking blah blah blah

herp derp

NFL Matchup (Ron Jaworski and Sal Palintonio sp?) often have overhead footage showing all 22 players.

you should probably have your meter checked...

You just checked it for him and it said empty

LOL. Hamas and OTWP may put a lot of time into being football fans, but give me a break. They have 1/100th of the knowledge of someone like Parcells who has literally invested tens of thousands of hours of his time over several decades into professional football.

You are severely underestimating the gap between an extremely knowledgeable fan and someone who's had a long career in the sport.

Once they find they can charge for it, they will release it.

JFC what the hell is wrong with people today?

It was 100% pure sarcasm.... Nothing more, nothing less...

but I there wasnt a time not to long ago that Hamas and I got into a discussion that he could actually run and NFL franchise and sucessfully run an NFL draft...

It was funny...

Are we having a national shortage of sarcasm meters?

Of course he could. Hes prefected his GM skills with countless hours on Madden.

that stupid asteroid must have ****ed some shit up...

Damnit. I thought that. Then I re-read and thought it was serious.

In my defense, there are some serious nutswingers here.

FYI, I am mostly sarcastic... Very rarely am I serious.

what if 22 fans in collaboration with one another, went in and recorded the entire game from 22 different angels? What then?

I have a conspiracy as to why they dont want this in everyones hands (especially the teams). What if they are only allowing a certain set of teams (the modern day "dynasties") these tapes from 22 different angels? Obviously having dynasties makes the game a bit more interesting from a story stand point. Also, some certain people might benefit greatly via financially by having certain teams win more than others. I know i'm probably wrong, but it makes ya wonder why these teams have been so good for so long. Obviously they would still need to have playmakers to make it work. But it is an added advantage that these certain teams would have that others wouldnt.

i think all the teams get this footage. just not all the media and the public. a more plausible reason why there are dynasties, is because of the work of the clandestine underground midgets

ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL

Heaven's to Betsy, I don't think angels have anything to do with football.

Is he being serious here or is he just throwing shit again?

"By distributing this footage only to NFL teams, and rationing it out carefully to its TV partners and on its web site, the NFL has created a paradox."

I'm not pretty convinced that there is a conspiracy theory for absolutely everything.

Well, he did coach up Vernon Gholston to a 20 sack season on there:thumb:

Oh god damnit...

I'm a dipshit.

Look in my defense I was working until 3am and had to be back at work at 8am this morning. It's been a rough day.

edit: Also in my defense, I'm a dipshit.

And you're always a hypocritical dumbass.

It looks like you meant to say there was a conspiracy theory for everything, and then somehow the word 'not' got included in there. Who put it there, and why?

Maybe he was trying to say that he's somewhat convinced, but not pretty convinced.

although given my broken meter he might have been being sarcastic, I clearly have no way to tell.

Why are you trying to cover this up? Obviously some third party inserted the 'not' in his sentence. Someone who doesn't want us to know the truth.

don't go askin questions... we can't afford to lose you too

CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!ELEVENTY11!:tinfoil:

And your and old senile asshat. What's the difference?

The difference is that I'm not senile, nor am I nearly as old as you think.

The other difference is that, were I actually old and senile, it's a natural process.

Being a hypocritical dumbass is a character flaw.

Can I just say, given his avatar, milkman can never use the term dumbass enough.

Me = ROFL ROFL

You can say whatever you want, dumbass.

:D

I'm pretty sure that the Illuminaughties put that 'not' in there.

FAX

...I bet it if we had all 22 angles we could see who did the dastardly deed.

Gif'd Up would be amazing..

LOL. Crazy old man.