"We wanted to go mobile," explains the team's Video Director Steve Boxer.
Going mobile required some shopping.
"We did purchase 120 iPads," says Boxer. "Every player on the team has an iPad, and they are taking very well to it, they love it."
You won't catch guys playing Angry Birds on these iPads, although they will be breaking down "Angry Ravens" later this season. The iPads have taken the place of the massive 3-ring binder playbook, typically filled with hundreds of sheets of paper. If, for some reason, a player loses his iPad, it can (and will) be wiped clean immediately.
"It's definitely saved a lot of time in my department as far as not having to make DVD's," says Boxer. "We're able to put the video right to the iPad."
Boxer, the Broncos IT department and locally owned PlayerLync worked in the offseason to create a double passcode protected program for players and coaches to instantly download game film. The best part for Boxer and his staff: the download isn't limited to the 26 newly installed WiFi hot spots in the building.
"The games and the playbook download and they get it immediately so wherever they are in the country they can view this information," says Boxer.
Not only is the playbook and game film available at their fingertips, but for the first time ever, players can view practice video on their own without being in a meeting.
"For me it's very handy because you can watch practice while sitting in the cold tub and really kill two birds with one stone," says tight end Joel Dreesen. "Before you had to go to one of the meeting rooms and sit at the computer. Now you can really condense your day and condense your time and watch practice while taking care of your body."
Dreesen does admit he still likes having a tangible playbook to look at but, like most players, appreciates the new technology. Coaches are also embracing the new ways of the world, even the old school guys.
"To see where it is now and even just digital film we look at now," says head coach John Fox. "When I first came into the league it was 16 millimeter (film) and we had projectors. Cuts up really meant cut ups. You actually cut up the 16 millimeter tape, now you push a button."
PlayerLync, was started by three Denver business partners who were working on a new technology venture last fall. After the wife of one of the men watched a 9News story about the time consuming, paper wasting playbooks, she told her husband the playbooks were evidence he and his partners were on the right track. They started PlayerLync on January 1st and began talking to the Broncos. Since then they have built similar programs for five other NFL teams and are now expanding into the NHL and Major League Baseball.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)