By Amy Tennery
PHOENIX (Reuters) – NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said on Wednesday that the annual NFL Scouting Combine should be done away with, calling it an “intrusive” experience for aspiring players.
The combine sees top collegiate talent convene each year in Indianapolis, where National Football League teams meet with players and evaluate their mental and physical skills.
Widely seen as an essential step toward joining the league, some players in the past have complained of inappropriate questions at team interviews.
Others have seen their draft stock rise – or often fall – over fleeting interactions or brief on-field performances.
“We’re now in an era where we know exactly how fast these guys can run, how much they can lift, how far they can jump, do all of those things. Why do we insist on them showing up in Indianapolis?” Smith told reporters in Phoenix, ahead of Super Bowl 57.
“It’s for the teams to be able to engage in intrusive employment actions that don’t exist anywhere else.”
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Smith, the leading executive for the NFL’s labor union, said he was in support of Pro Days, where team scouts visit college players on their campuses, and suggested the NFLPA could host Pro Days for schools that don’t already have them.
“It’s got to start with players and their agents understanding that the combine today has nothing to do with how fast you run, how high you jump and how much you can lift,” he said.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Phoenix; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
