NFL expands to NINE combines

[Riddlewire]

The NFL has announced that along with the National Scouting Combine that is held in Indianapolis, the league will also host eight Regional Combines across the country to allow players to showcase their skills to NFL teams prior to the 2012 NFL draft.

According to the league, the new combines will be for college players eligible for the 2012 draft that weren't invited to the Scouting Combine, players with college experience who want to gauge their pro potential and former professional players who have been out of the game for some time.

"Out of the game for some time"?
So... what, is Emmitt Smith going to make a comeback?

More:

Like at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the Regional Combines will involve players being weighed and measured, along with being evaluated on the field by NFL scouts and personnel.

The times and dates of the eight Regional Combines are:

* January 26 in Los Angeles
* February 4 in Houston
* February 11 in Baltimore
* February 18 in Tampa Bay
* February 25 in New York/New Jersey
* March 3 in Chicago
* March 10 and 11 in Atlanta
* March 17 in Cleveland

All workouts will take place at the practice facilities of the local NFL team, with the exception of Los Angeles. That event will be at Orange Coast College.

There will be an NFL Super Regional Combine to be held at Ford Field on March 30-31. Players that attend a Regional Combine may be invited to that.

A "Super Regional" combine.:crazy:
So now the combine is like the NCAA tournament. I wonder if the combine participants will be seeded.

My take:
The traditional combine has a relatively low number of players. There are always a few token white skill players invited to the combine. NFL execs are beginning to feel conspicuous about drafting every black player at the combine each year while some of the white players go undrafted (and the teams then fill their draft slots with non-combine black players. This is what happened to Blair White.). This is a way to cover their asses. Now, with all these other "official" combines spread around the country, they can pass on all the white skill players they want because the total number of black players who are "official combine performers" will be much higher, thus making it unnecessary to draft a non-invited black scrub over a top white performer at the combine.

On a related note, how can this possibly be a good way to compare and contrast talent? They will all be performing on different surfaces at different locations. And we all know that 0.05 seconds in a measurement can be critical to scouts (even if it's not actually important).

I wonder if they will try to turn these into spectator events over time. Full of tiered ticket pricing and lots of ad revenue.

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Addendum:
I suspect this will also reduce scout attendance at the Pro Days of smaller schools (ex: Wyoming, Ohio U), since the NFL types will now have a built-in excuse not to show up. "I already saw hundreds of the best players at the five combines I attended!"

 

[white is right]

I suspect the regional combines are going to be for diamond in the rough types. The teams will use these combines similar to how baseball uses open tryouts. Maybe a few Canadian players, Mexicans or beer league guys will get noticed, or the rarer 25 to 30 year old former prospect or pro that got on with their lives and was working at a non football job.

 

[Riddlewire]

I suspect the regional combines are going to be for diamond in the rough types. The teams will use these combines similar to how baseball uses open tryouts. Maybe a few Canadian players, Mexicans or beer league guys will get noticed, or the rarer 25 to 30 year old former prospect or pro that got on with their lives and was working at a non football job.

That would seem to be a lot of trouble to go to just for some weekend warrior scrubs. Unless this was just a gimmick "reality show" by the NFL. I guess we'll find out when they announce the invitees.

 

[Carolina Speed]

I like the idea! I think it will give more guys like D. Woodhead who may have been ignored a chance to show their measureables and talent.

Many on CF have said, alot of the skilled white players have to sign FCS(D-1AA) or D-II scholarships out of high school, so it seems their will be a chance for more white skill players to get a chance to showcase their talents, where they would normally not get the opportunity.

 

[dwid]

I don't think this is made for guys like Woodhead (but hopefully they benefit). This is happening because the number of quality black players in the league is dropping tremendously. Instead of just using White players who are more than qualified and should have been playing all along, they are going EVEN MORE OUT OF THE WAY to find "overlooked" black talent, just like they will draft black players out of small schools but guys like Woodhead, Kmic, Beaver go undrafted. This along with the hyping up of polys is all to keep Whites out of the NFL. They are probably pulling their hair out over the amount of White defensive backs that have gotten a chance to start and shine over the past few years.

White players "out of the game for some time" probably have careers now. Would they allow Matt Jones to try out? He can prove that he didn't slow down.

 

[white is right]

That would seem to be a lot of trouble to go to just for some weekend warrior scrubs. Unless this was just a gimmick "reality show" by the NFL. I guess we'll find out when they announce the invitees.

I know the NHL had a show in Canada based on this premise. I remember they had one guy who could run the 100 meter dash in 11 flat, which is cooking for a non sprinter. All of the guys were former fringe prospects that got overlooked for some reason. I think the winner was signed to the minimum a training camp invitee would get and he had a contract to at least play in the AHL which is the equivalent of AAA baseball or the D league of the NBA.

 

[Don Wassall]

I don't think this is made for guys like Woodhead (but hopefully they benefit). This is happening because the number of quality black players in the league is dropping tremendously. Instead of just using White players who are more than qualified and should have been playing all along, they are going EVEN MORE OUT OF THE WAY to find "overlooked" black talent, just like they will draft black players out of small schools but guys like Woodhead, Kmic, Beaver go undrafted. This along with the hyping up of polys is all to keep Whites out of the NFL. They are probably pulling their hair out over the amount of White defensive backs that have gotten a chance to start and shine over the past few years.

White players "out of the game for some time" probably have careers now. Would they allow Matt Jones to try out? He can prove that he didn't slow down.

The Bears will be starting Craig Steltz and Chris Conte at safety on Sunday. That will make three teams that have started a White duo at safety at some point this season -- Chicago, NY Jets, and San Diego. Only two or three seasons ago there was hardly a White starting safety in the entire league, much less a team starting two of them. I recall when the Rams at the end of the Martz era started Jason Sehorn and another White at safety, and we were going back to the Packers of the late '80s and early '90s (blackballed Chuck Cecil and current team president Mark Murphy) to remember the last time that had happened in the NFL.

 

[Leonardfan]

I don't think this is made for guys like Woodhead (but hopefully they benefit). This is happening because the number of quality black players in the league is dropping tremendously. Instead of just using White players who are more than qualified and should have been playing all along, they are going EVEN MORE OUT OF THE WAY to find "overlooked" black talent, just like they will draft black players out of small schools but guys like Woodhead, Kmic, Beaver go undrafted. This along with the hyping up of polys is all to keep Whites out of the NFL. They are probably pulling their hair out over the amount of White defensive backs that have gotten a chance to start and shine over the past few years.

White players "out of the game for some time" probably have careers now. Would they allow Matt Jones to try out? He can prove that he didn't slow down.

My thoughts pretty much echo DWID's thoughts. Every year about 58 white players are drafted, it will be interesting to see how this impacts that number. It sounds like an effort to me to try and blacken the league - if a white WR invited to the combine performs very well and gathers interest it can really help his chance to get drafted. But now if scouts go to the regional combines the chances of the guy who went to the main combine to get drafted are more than likely diminished.

The white players who attend these combines will 90% of the time be no more than training camp fodder or just wasting their time in general and its not because they aren't good players but because of the lack of that magical skin pigment the affletes have.

 

[whiteathlete33]

The Bears will be starting Craig Steltz and Chris Conte at safety on Sunday. That will make three teams that have started a White duo at safety at some point this season -- Chicago, NY Jets, and San Diego. Only two or three seasons ago there was hardly a White starting safety in the entire league, much less a team starting two of them. I recall when the Rams at the end of the Martz era started Jason Sehorn and another White at safety, and we were going back to the Packers of the late '80s and early '90s (blackballed Chuck Cecil and current team president Mark Murphy) to remember the last time that had happened in the NFL.

There has been an increase in white safeties from ten years ago. The only starting white safeties I can remember from a while back are Matt Stevens and John Lynch. I think the Bills also started a white safety a while back and his last name was Schultz or something like that.

 

[Thrashen]

The Bears will be starting Craig Steltz and Chris Conte at safety on Sunday. That will make three teams that have started a White duo at safety at some point this season -- Chicago, NY Jets, and San Diego. Only two or three seasons ago there was hardly a White starting safety in the entire league, much less a team starting two of them. I recall when the Rams at the end of the Martz era started Jason Sehorn and another White at safety, and we were going back to the Packers of the late '80s and early '90s (blackballed Chuck Cecil and current team president Mark Murphy) to remember the last time that had happened in the NFL.

Don, the white safety who started alongside Jason Sehorn (who wore #42 with the Rams, instead of #31) in the 2003-2004 season was a combination of both Adam Archuleta (who lead the team in tackles that season) and Rich Coady.

 

[Don Wassall]

Good memory, Thrashen. I think there was another one or two White safeties floating around the fringes of the Rams roster in that same era. Martz collected White safeties and wide receivers for a while, similar to the way Mike Shanahan kept several White receivers on his roster in Denver in that same time period -- Ed McCaffrey, Patrick Jeffers, Travis McGriff, Keith Poole and at least one more -- but only McCaffrey was given more than a tiny bit of playing time.

 

[bigunreal]

It's naive, and flies in the face of everything we know, to believe that any change the corrupt NFL institutes will result in more white football players.

 

[Truthteller]

Current Bears GM Jerry Angelo, who used to get "unfairly" slammed here at CF for being a total caste clown, tried very hard to draft Brian Urlacher as a safety when he was in Tampa Bay (2000), the year before he went to Chicago to lead that team. Of course, it would've made a potentially historic tandem of Lynch (SS) and Urlacher (FS). Tony Dungy has even verified this is true -- Bucs really wanted Brian and even attempted to trade up a few spots for him. Let's not forget, whigger Urlacher was a safety/kick returner at New Mexico, prior to being bulked up to play LB by the Bears. Again, Angelo got the job the next year in Chi-town, but after Urlacher had such a great rookie year at MLB, he couldn't go back and play him at FS.

Angelo has always drafted white safeties (and other whites at taboo positions), but Lovie Smiff has usually "cleansed" most before they could get their careers rolling. In Tampa he drafted Lynch, David Gibson, Than Merrill and a guy named Howell (Colorado State), who might've started a few games with Lynch around 1999 or 2000? He also drafted Todd Johnson fairly high and signed a few other white DB's with the Bears (Cam Worrell, Archuleta). So the Steltz/Conte pair is no huge surprise. Luckily Steltz will be a UFA after this year, so he doesn't have to deal with Hatie.

Bill Polian, who was with the Bills in the 1990's and with the Colts since like 1997, is another guy that's been somewhat "fair" to white safeties. Since he got to Indy he's brought in a bunch -- Jason Doering, David Gibson, Brannon Condren, Brian Legieb (sp?), Rich Coady, Matt Giordano and some others. As with Hatie, the Colts Afro-centric coaches did a good job of cleansing them from the roster, once Jim Mora Sr. was fired.

P.S: The guy Stevens started next to on the Bills was Kurt Schulz, who got a fairly big free agent contract to play for the Lions in the early 2000's. Schulz might've also started a few games next to Mark Kelso in Buffalo early in his career. I think in the early 1990's Chuck Cecil might've started next to Terry Hoage or Mike Zordich in Arizona. Those were some weird teams in Phoenix, as they had Ricky Proehl, who was basically the only white starting WR in the entire NFL in early 90's and white starting safeties, but the rest of the team was pretty much all black.

 

[dwid]

Urlacher was a hybrid in college, s/lb similar to what Cody Grimm played and basically a hybrid in the pros. Very few MLB's drop into coverage the amount of times he did during his prime. The Tampa 2 requires the MLB to play further back and play more coverage and he was a perfect fit. This is what has plagued White athletes, versatility. He could have been a great safety but wound up one of the best linebackers in the past 25 years. What makes you think he is a "whigger"?

 

[Freethinker]

What makes you think he is a "whigger"?

Brian and his "baby momma"

 

[backrow]

Angelo has always drafted white safeties (and other whites at taboo positions), but Lovie Smiff has usually "cleansed" most before they could get their careers rolling. In Tampa he drafted Lynch, David Gibson, Than Merrill and a guy named Howell (Colorado State), who might've started a few games with Lynch around 1999 or 2000? He also drafted Todd Johnson fairly high and signed a few other white DB's with the Bears (Cam Worrell, Archuleta). So the Steltz/Conte pair is no huge surprise. Luckily Steltz will be a UFA after this year, so he doesn't have to deal with Hatie.

John Howell started quite a few games for an injured Lynch. he was a mid round pick but never really got a chance to compete for FS job.

Gibson i really liked, but he was never given a chance in Tampa, he left to Colts and played there extensively one season, even started a lot of games. they didn't re-sign him.

 

[wile]

Brian and his "baby momma"

Yes she lives in the traditional black enclave of Plainfield (in reality it was once a nice all white farm town that was swallowed by suburbia and now been invaded by 21st century "Americans"). The "parents" spent quite a bit of time in the Will county courthouse hashing out the Baby Daddy details and Urlacher was treated as the celebrity he is, even the judge one time asked for his autograph. He is a freaking idiot, but then again as a Packer fan I might be totally biased.

 

[wile]

Hatie made it be known that he thinks of Craig as a backup and nothing more this week. I'm sure the man reeks of "racism" and if he could he would field a all black team. Its his prerogative, in my perfect world his ancestors would have remained "free" in Africa and running from megafauna not paid to entertain the slobs they hate..

 

[celticdb15]

So if the Bears fail to make the playoffs will Lovie get the boot?!

 

[wile]

So if the Bears fail to make the playoffs will Lovie get the boot?!

I'm no Bears expert, but the sniffers in the media think he is safe for two reasons, first his teams can be competitive and secondly he signed an extension and the McCaskeys are stingy. Basically he is a black bigot (that is his right) but I hate him for what he has done to white players, whale **** is higher than him in my book.

 

[Thrashen]

John Howell started quite a few games for an injured Lynch. he was a mid round pick but never really got a chance to compete for FS job.

I remember when Howell signed with Seattle in 2006, I thought he'd have a chance to finally start. But alas, he was quickly expelled from Michael Walrus' football plantation.

 

[white is right]

Brian and his "baby momma"

He also had a bar fight with Bas Rutten(allegedly) and had "One Night in Paris"(allegedly). Lately the gossip column has been quiet for him.

 

[foobar75]

He is a freaking idiot, but then again as a Packer fan I might be totally biased.

This idiot was asked after the game today what he thought of Tebow, and his response was "He's a good running back." Well, Brian, you and your team just got Tebowed, and you're not going to the playoffs, so take that, Mr. Wigger. :icon_mad:

 

[backrow]

haha, i don't know, it's not like there's many white RBs

 

[FootballDad]

When told about Urlacher's comment, Tebow took it as a compliment:

“He’s a good running back,â€￾ said Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher when asked his thoughts on Tebow after the game. Typically, Tebow was not bothered by the shot. “Coming from a really good player, that means a lot,â€￾ the unflappable Tebow said.