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Writer's pictureFagothethird Franklin

Here are the winners who were named during NFL's sixth annual 1st and future pitch competition

Tampa- Despite the adjustments that the NFL had to adapt to because of the pandemic, the NFL continued to have their annual 1st and future pitch competition.



Organic Robotics Corporation (ORC) won the top award among the final four finalists in the Innovations to Advance Athlete Health and Safety category. The category featured pitches for products designed to improve player health and safety. ORC won $50,000 for its submission, which was a Light Lace™ sensor designed to use light to measure muscle fatigue and respiration. The stretchable sensor can be integrated into garments or even helmets, and the information generated aims to help athletes and training staff better assess injury risk factors while optimizing performance.


The company that were the runner up were Genesis Helmets, Inc. with their genus of improving helmets. Genesis Helmets, Inc. won $25,000.


NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, AWS CEO Andy Jassy, and Arizona Cardinals Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald discussed how the use of data and innovative technologies are driving new insights into player health, safety and performance in the NFL.


"We see a need to be able to look at all of the helmet impacts and to be able to look at the data that comes from that so that we can create better protective equipment, change the rules and change some of the techniques that are coached and played," said Goodell during the panel discussion. "We were doing that manually. And by using machine learning, we can do that much more rapidly and make a difference."