How It Works: Scouting the NFL Combine

300+ Athletes

Less than 3 percent of all Division I football players are invited to the NFL’s annual scouting camp, hosted in Indy since 1987.

 
 

1,600 Judges

Each NFL team sends about 50 people to scrutinize every move the players make during a five-day gauntlet that includes extensive medical, physical, and psychological evaluations.

 

Jerry Jones’s Favorite Wine

NFL high-rollers cross paths at St. Elmo, and three years ago, the New Orleans Saints coach snagged the last of the Dallas owner’s preferred vino and then sent the empty bottle to him with a note: “WHO DAT! World Champions XLIV, Sean Payton.”

 
 

150% More Oatmeal

The kitchen at the Crowne Plaza hotel more than doubles its production for Combine athletes.

 
 

5 Echocardiogram Machines

IU Health screens all of the athletes for risky undetected heart issues, and the speed and accuracy it has developed would be “challenging to duplicate elsewhere,” says Combine president Jeff Foster. Not only has that helped keep the event in Indy, but IU cardiologists think their techniques could benefit others. This year, they expect to publish a study about what they have learned from testing NFL prospects.
 

 
 
The NFL Scouting Combine, held at Lucas Oil Stadium.