The two VCRs were capable of recording and immediately replaying individual plays. Replay officials sat in a booth in the stadium with two nine-inch television monitors showing the broadcast feed and two videocassette recorders. “Some feel we are taking the human element out of the game and moving it to a booth in the press box,” said Tex Schramm, who then served as Dallas Cowboys general manager and NFL Competition Committee chairman. The compromise: The system would be guaranteed for only one year and would have to be voted on again during the following offseason. The decision was only reached after a spirited debate and concessions to appease skeptics.
It was clear instant replay was years away from being implemented full time.
The technology was too costly to install at every stadium, the system needed more cameras than broadcasters used for games at the time, and calls remained inconclusive after lengthy reviews. Two years later, the league first tested instant replay on a wider scale during seven nationally televised preseason games, starting with the 1978 Hall of Fame game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins.
It determined the system was not yet ready for regular-season games. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy) The NFL tested instant replay during the 1978 Hall of Fame game and six other preseason games that year. McNally knew then: Replay could help football.
Simpson that could have been corrected with replay review. He saw a missed call on a play involving O.J. “We asked the camera technicians to give us different angles.” “If there was any question, we took a look at it,” McNally said after the experiment. Equipped with a stopwatch and video camera, he observed a "Monday Night Football" contest between the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills from a press box inside the stadium. The NFL first experimented with instant replay in 1976 when Art McNally, then the director of officiating, wanted to find out how long a video review would delay a game.