After Alabama’s star quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, suffered a high-ankle sprain in the SEC Championship on Dec. 1, he underwent an innovative surgical procedure and began intensive rehab. Among the assessment tools the university’s athletic training staff used was Trazer, an optical tracking system that monitors 25 points on the human body to quantify acceleration, deceleration, symmetrical movements, reaction times, and more.
In an ESPN feature on his return to play, Tagovailoa can be seen in front of a 90-inch flat screen, shuffling laterally in response to prompts from Trazer’s on-screen simulation. Tagovailoa returned to play four weeks after his injury, completing 24 of 27 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns to lead Bama to the College Football Playoff title game on Monday night against Clemson, which also became a Trazer client prior to this season.