Written By Luke Inman (ColdOmaha.com)
Photo Credit: YouTube/Marvel
Every year a new crop of young and athletic prospects roll into the league like an army of marching ants ready to build and conquer. People like myself are always enamored with this process and get excited at the idea of a new generation of dominant players entering the league.
Statistically, every draft class will produce a handful or two of pro-bowl talents, as well as one or two Hall of Famers. It’s this concept that intrigues fans alike as they attempt to assemble the pieces of game film, work-out numbers and interviews, and manufacture an educated guess at exactly which players will in fact go on to have long, illustrious careers.
Of course, this can’t even be determined for close to a decade after the draft — if not longer –but that doesn’t stop super fans from taking a stab at the carnival-like game, no matter how bad the odds are stacked against them, just for the opportunity somewhere down the road to say, “I told ya so!”
One thing that is for certain is that players are growing at an astonishing rate, getting bigger, stronger, and faster; exponentially. No matter the college attended or the position played, prospects are pushing themselves to new heights both physically and mentally, just for an opportunity to play in the NFL. With such a heavy emphasis of molding and growing athletes at a young age, with every new crop we’re starting to see players do things we’ve never seen before, and are witnessing things we didn’t even know were possible.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is a good example of exactly that. A monster of a man, Newton stands over 6-foot-6 inches and moves around like he had help from above. With his uncanny athleticism and lightning quick acceleration, it’s no wonder why he wears an “S” on his chest, showing off similar qualities of Clark Kent himself.
Although injuries have slowed him down as of late, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was the closest thing we could get to watching someone literally fly on the football field. Polamalu’s football instincts were off the charts resembling comic book superhero Spider-Man, with his ability to swing from one side of the field to the other in a flash, and using his football like “Spidey-Sense” to track down the ball.
Things like stress hormones, diet, and strength training can all be dissected and analyzed, helping athletes push their game to new heights from an external source. This isn’t limited to professionals, with thousands of workout apps on the market, anyone can measure their distance run, heart beats, and breathing rate.
The latest technological toy to hit the football field was the Under Armor E39 shirt. The shirt has heart and breathing sensors built into it, as well as the ability to measure a player’s acceleration and G-force. Amazing how just a shirt can give us information we’ve never seen before, helping us dissect a prospect’s athletic ability even more. Newton wore the shirt during his 2011 combine, and while he ran an above average at best 4.49 40-time, he generated 9.48 G’s when he exploded out of his stance.
To put that in comparison, some of the best athletes generated just 6 G’s of force in the same drill. This information is vital to scouts and coaches as it can help display a player like Newton’s ability to run through linebackers, instead of being run over by them. Just this shirt is a prime example of what technology can do in advancing sports to new, unprecedented levels, and why coaches have already begun to throw out their soon-to-be obsolete stopwatches and measuring tape.
Meanwhile, internally, doctors are able to use the latest and greatest technology to fix and repair players’ bodies at an unprecedented rate. One of the most common injuries is an ACL tear in the knee which used to take multiple years to fully recover from. Now, technology has allowed surgeons to treat and heal patients in half the time period while helping them grow back the muscle stronger than ever.
Of course, that’s just using technology to fix a current problem, but when athletes use the resources at hand to enhance their bodies is when we will begin to see a new generation of “Super Athletes.” We’ve already started to see glimpses of this with disabled athletes and their ability to attain new body parts or limbs, helping them achieve some of their lifelong dreams.
An even more common procedure is Lasik-Eye surgery, as it has become another way for athletes to enhance their vision in just a few short hours, giving them the ability to see the ball clearer and more efficiently.
Surely, these technological enhancements and many more are sure to go through a long and tedious process, both in the laboratory and in the courtroom, before they are made legal and are allowed in professional sports. But the fact remains that athletes are slowly but surely embarking into a new evolution of the physical body as we know it.
With the help of Superhero guru Andrew Inman, we check out the current guardians and defenders of the world, as we try to get a glimpse and idea of what attributes players may hold in the future, and where they would excel on the football field because of it.
CLICK HERE for the All-Superhero Team!