Intense interview: The NFL Scouting Combine
Imagine going to a job interview in a 70,000 seat stadium. You walk into the arena, and immediately you’re signed up for individual interviews with 32 potential bosses and hundreds of members of the press. When you’re done there, it’s off to the field where 300 other potential employees are literally testing in front of your eyes. Every one of you is competing — typing memos, trimming the bonsai, picking up the boss’s dry cleaning. And then you’re told you’ll hear from them in two months on a nationally televised hiring circus where tens of millions of dollars are on the line based on your performance that week.
Sound intense?
It is. It’s the NFL Scouting Combine and it’s the largest attended sports audition in America. It’s less than one week of drills, conversations, scrutiny and prodding that basically determines whether you’ll be partying with Giselle or the kids from Jersey Shore.
Organized in 1977 by Dallas Cowboys owner Tex Schram along with a competition committee, the combine was first intended as a way to save money spent on flying to individual schools to perform medical testing. Today, it’s one of the NFL’s seminal events.
America’s premier post-amateur football players annually meet at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for a round of IQ tests, aptitude exams, 40 yard dashes, vertical jumps, bench pressing, route-running, and interviewing in front of the men who make the decisions for each of the league’s teams.
And this year, we’ll be there.
I’ll be at the 2010 NFL Combine all weekend, blogging faster than Terrence Cody can eat. Sure, there will be reports of 4.3s and 45 inch verticals, but we’re going a little deeper.
I’ll be talking to you about the experience, the atmosphere, the buzz. Want to know which team followed Jimmy Clausen around like a misguided paparazzi? It’ll be here. Need to know who displayed the best zip on their deep outs? Got you covered. Curious about which prospect Al Davis bought a pair of briefs for? It may not be pretty, but we’ll let you know.
The NFL Draft is becoming a mainstream attraction. For the first time in its history, the first round will be broadcast on a Friday night, in primetime. And there’s no heavier pendulum for these players’ stock than the combine. Unknown players will become third-round locks. Second day running backs can jump into the top 20.
And this year, for the first time, you’ll know exactly what it’s like to endure one of the most grueling tryouts in athletics.
We’re kicking it off this week with a group of interviews of a few guys that might look good in Orange and Blue. Ricky Sapp, outside linebacker from Clemson; Rob Gronkowski, tight end from Arizona, and Erick Decker, wide receiver from Minnesota are all stopping by to talk about their expectations, skills, and even weaknesses.
Plus, we’re running a live blog twice a day during the entire Combine. Whether it’s stats, strength, or breaking news it’ll be covered in photographs, videos, articles, and updates.The Broncos are living proof of the importance of youth. After a season in which our veterans wore down as the season grew, this weekend’s NFL Combine could go a long way to determining the future of Josh McDaniels and the AFC West.
Don’t miss it.
