Mike Eayrs spent 16 years as the Vikings' analytics whiz in charge of research and development, then the past 14 1/2 years in the same capacity for the Green Bay Packers before retiring last month. He was considered among the best in the business at what he did.
Eayrs provided teams' tendencies, through detailed computerized research, for coaches to prepare for the next week's game.
"The greatest predictor of future behavior is past behavior," Eayrs said last week. "What you've done in the past many times will accurately predict what you're going to do in the future.