NFL Combine combines scouting and meat market
Associated Press
Linebacker Bud Dupree stretches before drills at the NFL scouting combine on Feb. 22, 2015, in Indianapolis. Dupree was selected by the Steelers in the 1st round in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Stanford offensive lineman David Decastro runs the 40-yard dash at the NFL football scouting combine on Feb. 25, 2012 in Indianapolis.
PITTSBURGH 无毛视频� One can glean a lot during the NFL Combine. From a player无毛视频檚 height and weight to medical and drug testing, the league无毛视频檚 next wave of stars reveal plenty 无毛视频� and, in spandex shirts and shorts 无毛视频� probably a little too much.
But what the annual gathering, which gets under way next week in Indianapolis, can无毛视频檛 translate is whether a prospect will one day be a great NFL player. No offense to the 3-cone drill or the broad jump, greatness usually reveals itself over time, in pads and on, you know, a football field.
Case in point: Tom Brady.
No one could have foreshadowed greatness from the Michigan quarterback judging by his underwhelming combine performance 17 years ago. The image of a decidedly dad-bod Brady rumbling 40 yards in a speed 无毛视频� a 5.28 无毛视频� that could have been measured with a sun dial has become the stuff of legend.
The 无毛视频淯nderwear Olympics,无毛视频� as the combine无毛视频檚 critics derisively call it, is a veritable decathlon of football in shorts, a seemingly useless series of on-field events resembling the Presidential Physical Fitness Test more than anything one might see in an actual NFL game.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a pretty miserable process to be honest,无毛视频� Steelers guard David DeCastro, a first-round pick and combine invite in 2012, said in December. 无毛视频淭hey poke and prod at you in the combine, treat you like a piece of meat. Then you have to go out four days later on no sleep and run a 40 and perform. Looking back on it, you kind of laugh. It was an interesting process.无毛视频�
无毛视频淒idn无毛视频檛 like the combine process,无毛视频� says Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree, the 22nd overall pick in 2015. 无毛视频淚t was draining, really draining. Me, personally, I think you无毛视频檙e set up for failure. They want to see how you handle adversity.无毛视频�
Of course, the combine is more than just body-fat percentages and Wonderlic scores.
Just as importantly, the combine is a chance for players to make a good impression on future employers. Each team is allowed up to 60 interviews 无毛视频� from the 330-plus invites 无毛视频� lasting 15 minutes each. Those sessions are where teams can learn about a player无毛视频檚 mental makeup and can address any character issues or concerns.
Most of the heavy-lifting has already been done in the fall by the teams无毛视频� scouts and by what a player has put on film. The combine isn无毛视频檛 a be-all and end-all as much as it无毛视频檚 another step in the player evaluation process, which also includes pro days and pre-draft visits.
无毛视频淭he combine无毛视频檚 one thing, but the film is what speaks pretty highly,无毛视频� DeCastro said. 无毛视频淭he combine just confirms things. The medical process is the biggest part, MRIs and stuff. Just making sure they无毛视频檙e getting a good investment. That makes sense.无毛视频�
Obviously scouting has come a long ways since the days of Bill Nunn and Art Rooney Jr. trekking the country, but it remains just as vital to the Steelers, who traditionally build their teams through the draft. The Steelers are scheduled to have seven picks in this year无毛视频檚 draft, one in each of the seven rounds, including the 30th overall in the first.
Since its rather humble beginnings 30 years ago, the NFL combine has grown exponentially in size and scope. For starters, the event is now a televised spectacle as the NFL无毛视频檚 grip on the nation无毛视频檚 sporting conscience has grown year-round. The NFL Network will televise all four days (March 3-6) of on-field workouts live and, for the first time ever, fans are even being allowed to watch the bench press up close at the Indiana Convention Center.
While exposing the game and pushing the brand is good for the league无毛视频檚 bottom line, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert says that the focus has to remain on the product.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 old school,无毛视频� said Colbert. 无毛视频淲hen the TV came in, I was really worried because it无毛视频檚 intrusive. But it actually enhanced the combine participation because kids enjoy competing on television. I think we have to be careful that it doesn无毛视频檛 become an event other than a necessary tool for us to complete the scouting process.
无毛视频淎gain, the history of that, the combine was to get medicals. Then, it grew into physicals. Now, it无毛视频檚 into the character, the interviews. So all of that has to stay (at the) forefront of the event. I don无毛视频檛 want it to become a marketing opportunity that supersedes the necessary football business that has to happen in that seven-day period. There无毛视频檚 so much work that gets done, because to get 330 physicals and visits, if we didn无毛视频檛 do it in that setting, it would be impossible. So we can无毛视频檛 lose sight of that fact that it无毛视频檚 football first, entertainment second.无毛视频�
If you take the combine for what it is, it无毛视频檚 a useful accessory. But nothing more than that.
If that means running 40 yards in a straight line or seeing who jumps highest, all in spandex, so be it.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 crazy,无毛视频� Dupree said. 无毛视频淲hatever it takes, I guess. We dream about this since we were kids. So whatever it takes to get there.无毛视频�