The Digital Quarterback
13 years old. That is how old David Sills is. He verbally committed to play quarterback at USC this week – in the year 2015. Forget for a second that at 13 years old he is already six feet tall and obviously very athletic. At that age, how can he have such a high level of understanding of the game? If you watch this video you can hear the way the coach is talking to him about reading the safety and defensive coverage. Really? At 13?
So as we prepare for the Super Bowl this weekend, a game that includes arguably the greatest thinking quarterback to ever play, I asked myself what role the web, and associated digital environments might play in the development of a QB. Yes, I stretched a bit to find a digital tie in but bear with me. I’m not Bill Simmons.
I posted the link to that video on FB and Tim Schavitz of Critical Mass fame posted an article in Wired about the realism of video games, specifically Madden football.
“The many hundreds — even thousands — of hours that athletes put into videogame football give them more game experience than Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, or Joe Montana were able to log in previous eras.”
Gaming is now counted as “experience” for athletic training.
When Peyton Manning was growing up, Tecmo Bowl was the game of choice and I’m sure he and his freakishly young looking brother played as much as they could – that is when Archie wasn’t running them through drills until two in the morning and not letting them eat McDonald’s. I believe its possible that Peyton Manning will be able to read the Saints defense on Sunday in part because he memorized the 1989 Bears secondary on Tecmo Bowl.
Tecmo Bowl wunderkind
I mean, look at these graphics! How could Manning not be as good as he is after playing as Jack Trudeau and reading Chris Doleman on the blitz?
Think about it – a kid who wants to be a quarterback, really wants to learn about the position can sit in front of a video game that is built on realism and learn the position without leaving his couch. Or if he has Wii, he can literally practice the job in his living room.
So if Peyton was able to learn that much from Tecmo, don’t you think David Sills has learned a lot more from Madden ’10? Look at these graphics – they haven’t changed a bit!
So as you sit and watch the game on Sunday, drinking your Budweiser, eating your jalapeno poppers and hoping that your squares hit, remember that the guys you are watching are as good as they are in larger part due to the advanced graphics of ColecoVision.
Last 5 posts by Scott Shamberg
- Facebook Is Not the Milk Carton of the Internet – November 18th, 2009
- Is Time the New Luxury? – October 15th, 2009
- Meet Your New Consumer… The Wanderer – August 20th, 2009
- The Revolution Will Be Digitized – May 7th, 2009
- The Bastardization of the Customer Experience – April 28th, 2009