The iPad has been a rather revolutionary product in the NFL as it allows the process of learning plays through playbooks and gametape to be transferred almost entirely to a handheld tablet. Among the proponents for the iPad was former Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris, who raved about the possibilities and efficiency of the technological advances.
But not everyone is excited about the possibilities presented by the tablet technology. Former Bucs running back Earnest Graham spoke to JoeBucsFan.com about the problems that come with having a young team with iPads. Those are, of course, Facebook and chargers.
"I think the concept of the iPads was excellent but at times a bit too much for players and coaches alike," Graham told JoeBucsFan.com. "The problem was that at times guys would forget to charge them overnight or to update them when they came into the building because everything needed to download before meetings. That would cause problems. Also the fact that it's an unnecessary distraction with being able to access the Internet, games, and so on.
"I thought the idea was great but it was definitely more negatives than positives with a young team. I enjoyed being able to access the opposing teams' cut-ups and video of that day's practice, but in my opinion most guys did not use them. If you keep it simple and do your installations using your [paper] playbooks, you don't have to guess whether a guy is on Facebook or not. Based on that experience I would never use them if I went into coaching.
Really?
While I understand where Graham is coming from, and I'm honestly not all that surprised, the notion that a team should shun the opportunity to use an innovative technology that can streamline the learning process is going to need much better reasoning than that.
You know who doesn't have a problem with having iPads in a team's facility? Peyton Manning. According to Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports, the four-time NFL MVP said the device "eliminates any excuses for lack of preparation."
That's probably because Manning isn't playing Angry Birds and updating his Twitter on his iPad that will soon crash because he forgot to re-charge it overnight. And that's probably because he's a consummate professional that is a responsible person. Just be like that: problem solved.