People and Pop Culture
Closing Shot: Show us what you’ve got
This week Indianapolis again becomes the center of the NFL universe as the annual combine gets underway. What was once only an event to get scouts up to speed on talent has evolved into a media spectacle that now has hopeful fans imagining endless possibilities.
Defensive back Justin Reid runs the 40-yard dash at last year’s NFL Scouting Combine.getty images
In the predecessor to the NFL Scouting Combine, there was no 40-yard dash. No vertical leap. No cameras. Just some NFL team doctors performing physicals on a relatively small group of draft prospects.
“It bore no similarity to the modern combine,” said veteran NFL agent Leigh Steinberg. “The current coverage of the combine, really, in some sense, rivals the Super Bowl in the number of writers and electronic journalists. It’s like a continuation of Super Bowl radio row; the same press is there.”
The combine traces its roots to four NFL clubs — the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks — that joined forces simply to make it easier to gather and share information on draft prospects, said Charley Armey, former St. Louis Rams general manager and Bills scout.
“The first year with the four teams was medical. Medical and mental. Interview this guy,” Armey recalls.
According to the NFL, the first combine open to every team was held in Tampa in 1982 and 163 players attended. In 1985, all 28 NFL teams participated. The combine moved around — to Arizona and to New Orleans — before the NFL switched it to Indianapolis, where it has been held every year since 1987.
“The No. 1, main reason it moved to Indianapolis is it’s a central location for bringing in kids from all over the country to an ideal, indoor facility to work out at,” Armey said.
The first physical test added to the combine was the 40-yard dash. The teams wanted to have a uniform measurement for a player’s speed, something that was not available at pro days held on college campuses.
“When you’d go to a school, some kids would run on grass,” Armey said. “Some kids ran on artificial. Some kids wore spikes. Some kids wore football shoes.”
More physical tests, including agility tests, were added as the combine grew. And more people from the clubs attended over time, Armey said.
“Originally when it first started, most of the teams sent their director of player personnel and their scouts,” he said. “Then a few of them started sending their coaches. Then it evolved to what it is now in Indianapolis, everybody’s there. Owners show up.”
More players and agents show up as well. The list of invited players has ballooned to more than 300.
In past years, some agents had their players work out for clubs at their college pro day, rather than the combine. But that’s become less common, Steinberg said.
“That whole fight about ‘You can do better at pro scouting day’ has faded, because the combine is now the Super Bowl of scouting,” Steinberg said.
