IT MATTERS BUT IT REALLY DOESN’T

By now we have all heard of this thing called the NFL Combine. You may have even been one of the many who were glued to the television over the weekend. I’ll ask all of you to take a step back and look at the big picture.

Imagine with me if you took a class in college, and that semester you were judged, not by the four to five tests in which you scored an A or B but by the final in which you failed… That would seem to be a little unfair, wouldn’t it?

Now let’s look at the NFL Combine and a couple of the players from the College Football Season. Chance Warmack, offensive guard at Alabama who dominated on an Alabama team that won the National Championship, ran a 5.5+ forty yard dash. That’s awful slow; however what I saw during the season and in the BCS title game was arguably the best player in the country.

Knile Davis, running back from Arkansas, opened eyes with a 4.37 forty yard dash at 221 pounds. By all accounts those are measurables that command a lot of attention. Problem is when I watch the tape during the season I don’t see that type of explosive play.

Now think about all the records in all the events and tell me how many guys you know. Rondel Menendez 4.24 in the forty, Justin Ernest 52 reps of 225, Gerald Sensabaugh vertical jump of 46 inches, and Scott Starks broad jump of 11’4. Not many if any at all. Remember a guy named Tom Brady, he might have had the worst test numbers ever at the combine and how did that turn out?

Here’s my point: At the end of the day I understand the concept to see all the doctors and interview with the teams but when it’s all said and done turn on the tape! There’s an old saying in football that says the one eye in the sky don’t lie, meaning just look at the tape and you will learn all u need to know. So in the end I understand the combine and it matters but it really doesn’t.