Patrick Mahomes Suggests Putting Microchips in Footballs to End 'Human Error' on Touchdowns

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes recently suggested placing microchips inside footballs to minimize the "human error" on touchdown plays.

During a recent appearance on the WHOOP podcast, Mahomes was asked by the show's host, Will Ahmed, if he thought coaches challenging plays was good or bad for the game of football. In response, Mahomes said be believes it's good for football, which then led the conversation towards potential technology that could help NFL referees make more accurate calls during games.

"I've always thought about the chip in the ball has to happen at some point, where if you cross the line it just tells you touchdown," Mahomes said. "But it's also kind of like the whole human error thing, it's kind of like baseball, balls and strikes, it's just part of the game."

Mahomes, the MVP of Super Bowl LIV, continued, "The biggest thing to me is when they get into the pile, by the goal line, there's literally no way you can tell if he's in the end zone or not. It's like you said, it's just whatever they call. ... I'm sure it'll happen soon enough."

While Mahomes believes that placing a microchip in a football could help eliminate the "human error" during touchdown plays, there are a number of other aspects that can change the outcome of a play that a microchip may not be able to take into account.

For example, a microchip placed inside a football would not be able to determine if a player's knee touched the ground before the ball crossed the goal line, which is usually the question that NFL referees must answer during touchdown plays.

During a 2017 interview with NBC Sports' Peter King, former NFL referee and current Fox Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira brought up the idea of using a microchip in balls for scoring plays, but noted that one would need to be placed in the player's knee, too.

"You can put a chip in the ball, but then you better put a chip in the guy's knee, too," Pereira said. "The ball is one thing, but it's not over until the knee hits the ground or the shoulder hits the ground. How accurate is that going to be?"

During the interview, Pereira also stated that the NFL currently uses microchips inside footballs for the league's Next Gen Stats. According to the NFL, RFID chips are placed in balls, pylons, sticks, chains and on officials to collect "real time location data, speed and acceleration for every player, every play on every inch of the field."