NFL Scouting Combine Schedule

The NFL Scouting Combine has been a thing since 1982. The league's decision-makers decided that it was getting way too costly and hectic travelling all over the country to evaluate each of the top prospects for the annual NFL Draft. Why not bring the prospects to one location? The Combine was born. The talent evaluation event is run by a combination of the BLESTO, National, and Quadra Scouting organizations. It was held in Tampa, New Orleans, and Arizona before it found a home in Indianapolis in 1987. For the first 22 years, the event was held in secrecy. There was an air of mystery about it. We live in a world today in which we have to know everything immediately. It's difficult to imagine a time in which so little information leaked out of an event, especially an NFL event. That secrecy was eliminated by the cameras of NFL Network in 2004. It's been televised ever since. The year-round draw of the NFL can be seen in the numbers of viewers that tune in every year to see this very strange job interview. Fan interest in the Scouting Combine is so high that this year the NFL will televise the on-field workouts in prime time. From Thursday, February 27, to Sunday, March 1, the NFL's "underwear Olympics" will be shown live in prime time. There's never enough NFL coverage.

On-Field Workout Schedule:
February 27: TEs, QBs, WRs
February 28: P, K, ST, OL, RBs
February 29: DL, LBs
March 1: DBs

For each position group it's a six-day process:

Day 1: Arrive In Indianapolis Registration Orietation Interviews Day 2: Measurements Pre-exam at hospital Interveiws Day 3: Media Medical Exams Position Coach Interview Pschological Testing Day 4:  NFLPA Meeting Interviews Bench Press Pschological Testing Day 5: Limited testing/Interviews On-Field Workout Day 6:  Depart From Indianapolis

TEs, QBs, WRs start the process on February 23

P, K, ST, OL, RBs: February 24

DL, LBs: February 25

DBs: February 26

It's been rumored that there might come a day when TV cameras will find their way into the interview rooms. Do we really need to see everything? Everybody seems to forget that the NFL Scouting Combine is a work event. Team personnel people and coaches have a job to do. This was never intended to be an entertainment event. The league saw the potential for dollars and forced it into one. Also, much of what goes on in Indianapolis is of a very personal nature for the prospects. It really isn't for public consumption. 

I enjoy the NFL Scouting Combine. I like watching the on-field drills. I like seeing the concentrated, position-specific movements of the players that have piqued my interest during their college football careers. I liked that I could record the events during the day and selectively watch them in the evening. For that reason, I'm not a fan of the move to prime time. Maybe I'll warm to it. I didn't like it when the NFL Draft was moved to prime time but I've come to enjoy most aspects of it. I don't know. I worry at times about where the NFL is headed. More content isn't always better content. There's nothing wrong with a little mystery surrounding the process of building a football team and getting that team ready to play a football game.