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The potential role of retinal slip in National Football League (NFL) officiating and its effect on on-field decision making: mechanisms and countermeasures

Eye volume 39, pages 478–483 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Visual processing involves numerous neuro-ophthalmic pathways that enable humans to perceive and interact with the world. These visual pathways can negatively impact visual perception and decision-making. The Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR) is a compensatory mechanism that stabilizes gaze on a target during head movement, such as running or turning. However, inadequate VOR stabilization can lead to retinal slip, reducing visual acuity. In the National Football League (NFL), officials require exceptional visual training and performance. NFL officiating utilize rapid visual processing, strategic movements, and precise judgement to make accurate penalty calls in real-time. Retinal slip can adversely affect play calling and penalty assessment by NFL officials. Despite these challenges, NFL officials achieve high precision and accuracy in up to 98.9% of plays. To maintain such high standards, the NFL has implemented a standardized curriculum to mitigate the effects of VOR and retinal slip. This manuscript outlines the basics of VOR function and explores countermeasures to minimize retinal slip in NFL officiating. We believe that these scientific endeavours can improve both penalty assessment accuracy and precision. The use of these general principles might also be potentially applicable to other sports.

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Fig. 1: Basic components of the VOR in the horizontal plane.
Fig. 2
Fig. 3: Visual Representation of Retinal Slip.
Fig. 4

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No new data were created or analysed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M School of Medicine, Bryan, TX, USA

    Nicholas Panzo, Hamza Memon & Andrew G. Lee

  2. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Joshua Ong

  3. McGovern Medical School, UT Health Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Nicole V. Carrabba

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Ethan Waisberg

  5. Moorfields Eye Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Ethan Waisberg

  6. Human-Machine Perception Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Nevada, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Nasif Zaman, Prithul Sarker & Alireza Tavakkoli

  7. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Virginia A. Lee

  8. Dean McGee Eye Institute, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Ashtyn Z. Vogt

  9. Department of Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Noor Laylani & Andrew G. Lee

  10. The Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  11. Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  12. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  13. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  14. Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  15. Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

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  1. Nicholas Panzo
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Contributions

Conceptualization, JO and AGL, investigation, JO, NP, HM, and AGL; writing—original draft preparation, JO, NP, and HM, writing—review and editing, JO, NP, HM, NC, NZ, VL, AZ, NL, AT, EW, PS, and AGL; supervision, AGL; project administration, NP; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas Panzo.

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Competing interests

AGL serves as a consultant for the National Football League (NFL). Dr. Lee is on the Speakers’ Bureau for Amgen and Alexion and is on the Advisory Board for Viridian and Stoke and serves as a consultant for Bristol Myers Squibb and Astrazeneca. Dr. Lee serves on the Editorial board of Eye.

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Panzo, N., Ong, J., Memon, H. et al. The potential role of retinal slip in National Football League (NFL) officiating and its effect on on-field decision making: mechanisms and countermeasures. Eye 39, 478–483 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03533-z

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