National Football League

Colts use remote-controlled tackling dummy to distract punt returners in practice

Published Nov. 15, 2016 1:39 p.m. ET

Brett Smiley

After enjoying a Week 10 bye, the Indianapolis Colts got back to practice Monday with head coach Chuck Pagano using a remote-controlled tackling dummy to distract punt returners as they received footballs.

Get a load of the technology courtesy Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star:

Not a great angle there by the robot, but that's why it's practice.

Some collegiate football programs and also other pro teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, have experimented with the robotic tackling dummies to enhance player safety. "The applications we are quickly finding are endless" Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in May.

This is probably step three of 10 leading to the birth of the Robot Football League.

Experimenting with a new technology has us thinking differently when we hear “MVP.”

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— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 19, 2016