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YoKoolAid's avatar

Football teams use lip readers? Do NFL teams fit espionage in their budget?

Asked by YoKoolAid (2424points) January 8th, 2012

I once asked why NFL coaches always cover their mouths when calling plays and I was told so the other team doesn’t read his lips and know what play their calling.
When did this start and was there ever a case of someone getting caught reading lips? There would have to be a relatively high level of espionage going on here…knowing the coach called “Eagle 40” would be worthless unless you actually knew their playbook. However I feel like i’m reading way too much into this and it’s just a preventative measure.

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2 Answers

PhiNotPi's avatar

Actually, knowing “Eagle 40” may not be useful at first, but after that play you know what to prepare for if you happen to see him say “Eagle 40” again later in the game.

Charles's avatar

Baseball players do it all the time so, I suppose football players/coaches – guys with binoculars who work for the team – could do it. It might not take much, just grabbing a key word which might indicate right side or left side, run or pass, etc.

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