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Matt Birk Develops New App Built For Sports Fans, Letting Them Get Back Into The Game

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Matt Birk has been though the draft and back, and he's aware of what this weekend is all about. And when football returns, he's now got a new way for fans to watch it on television.

Birk understands the insecurity of not knowing and the butterflies that go with the draft.

"If you might get drafted but you're not sure, it's exciting, it's nerve-wracking, it's all those things," he said. "You think about it, your fate's going to be decided on that day. It's going to determine where you go and try to make a career in the National Football League."

What he also knows is that this is a fan's game -- for the draft, for the games. So he's now the commissioner for a new idea, an app that allows fans to react during the game.

"Everybody, regardless of the game, even if it's not a team that you necessarily care about, it allows you to engage at a whole other level and really participate in what's going on," he said.

Pick a sport, any sport, watch the game, and get involved in the game in your own way.

"There's a skill element, where you're asked to predict some of the things that are going to happen in the game," he said. "You can answer questions and are awarded points based on that, and then there's an element of luck."

As he takes a peak at football as a whole, he thinks not just of the NFL but high school football, and that means you can't help ponder its immediate future.

"I'm definitely optimistic," he said. "It would be a shame, not just for the memories but ... so much growth happens during high school football, so many lessons learned."

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