NFL
By Bill Carroll
The NFL Combine was once a small, nearly silent affair. The Scouting Combine has a “Government Name”, the National Invitational Camp, which was originally devised as a way to save energy, expense, and time in getting medical examinations done on top prospects. One of the, then three, now, two, league-wide, scouting resources, BLESTO, Quadra National Football Scouting Inc. (NFS) held the first National Invitational Camp in Tampa, Florida., in 1982. They invited 163 players for 16 member clubs to acquire medical information on prospects.
Until the 1970s, teams often didn’t give physical exams to potential draft picks. In 1976, the New York Jets became one of the first to invite college seniors to team headquarters for physicals and interviews.
“Besides character and intelligence, the other non-football thing we put a premium on is the medical aspect,” Mike Hickey, the Jets’ director of player personnel, wrote in a column for The New York Times in April 1983. “We attempt to have every player we are interested in have an orthopedic physical by our team physicians.”
What BLESTO and National Football Scouting Inc., does for their subscribing franchises, is pool scouting resources. Those pooled resources are used to develop pre-season watch-lists and the invitations to the National Invitational Camp, AKA The Scouting Combine.
Tex Schramm, the president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, recommended to the Competition Committee that teams work together to centralize the evaluation process.
In those first three years, two more camps were held at different collecting similar information for teams that did not belong to National Football Scouting. The other camps, one created by BLESTO, the other from the Quadra Scouting organization,were established to collect information for teams that didn’t partner with NFS.
However, in 1985 all 28 NFL teams decided they would participate in future National Invitational Camps with the goal of sharing costs for the medical examinations of draft-eligible players. After brief stints in New Orleans (1984, 1986) and Arizona (1985) The Scouting Combine moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where it has been since 1987.
While I have heard many arguments for moving The Scouting Combine to another location or moving it continuously, as is now done with the NFL Draft. Having attended The Scouting Combine multiple times, I cannot imagine a more compact, competent and convenient arrangement.
In Indianapolis, Indiana the hotels, convention center, and hospital that are most involved in The Scouting Combine, are physically conjoined via a series of skywalks. I am not aware of any other location that would present the same facilities within the same proximity.
At The Scouting Combine this year the defensive linemen have drawn a great deal of attention. The heaviest of the group was 6′ 2 7/8″ 335, who is expected to play as a 0/1 Technique nose tackle. The lightest defensive lineman were Nick Hampton of Appalachian State and Isaiah Land of Florida A&M, both are 236.
The tallest was 6’6 1/8″ 257, Tavius Robinson, of Mississippi, the shortest was Alabama’s DJ Dale who came in at 6′ 7/8″ 302. Pitt’s Calijah Kancey set a modern record, for The Scouting Combine, among defensive tackles, at 4.67 in the 40-yard dash.
Yesterday we learned that this is Nolan Smith’s world and all of us are merely living in it. Also Northwestern’s Adetomiwa Adebawore had a once in a decade kind of day. He was 6′ 1 5/8″ 282: 4.49 in the 40, 37 1/2″ vertical jump and a 10′ 5″ broad jump.
The Scouting Combine was also treated to an absolute spectacle of speed as the linebackers tested. The heaviest was Tyrus Wheat of Mississippi State at 263, the tallest is Army’s 6′ 6 1/2″ 256, Andre Carter II. The shortest was Ivan Pace of Cincinnati at 5’10 1/2″ 231, the lightest, Georgia Tech’s Charlie Thomas who was measured at 6’3″216. The fastest was Owen Pappoe of Auburn, who ran 4.39.
This morning here are some names that I have heard are likely to run great times: Christian Gonzales of Oregon, by way of Colorado, Kelee Ringo of Georgia, DJ Turner of Michigan and Devon Witherspoon or Illinois have all been mentioned as corner prospects who may run under 4.36, with a few expected to run sub 4.3. I am going to leave you with a ‘dark-horse’ contender for The Scouting Combine, 40 time medal podium, Stanford C, Kyu Blu Kelly who was a track standout at Bishop Gorman, with a personal best of 10.66 in the 100 meters.
