REPORTING FROM ... THE NFL COMBINE

by Seth Wickersham

(Editor's Note: Mag Senior Writer Seth Wickersham is in Indianapolis covering the combine.)

     I never feel like more of a parasite than at the NFL Combine. Today I spent my day standing in a windowless convention center hallway, along with a few hundred other reporters, waiting for coaches, execs and scouts to arrive from the RCA Dome after picking apart the 335 players who are lucky enough to have been invited. The real action is in the Dome; where only NFL Network cameras are allowed. So I'm outside, waiting for NFL types to pass by, and hoping to pull them away from their scheduled press conferences for a few minutes of small talk. You wait, then jump.

Seth Wickersham

     I'm not alone. More than 700 media credentials were issues for this year's Combine. Six years ago, reporters would wait for coaches at a hotel bar and spend the rest of the night downing beers. Now, everyone waits in a dull convention center. And when a coach stops by to chat&mdashthe Giants' Tom Coughlin, the Jets' Eric Mangini and the Jags' Mike Smith have so far—they get mobbed, not only by press but autograph seekers.

Seth Wickersham

     So, when a target passes by, you think about introducing yourself, but it's such a weird scene that sometimes it's best to just watch. When Delaware QB Joe Flacco strode by, people jumped on him, even though no one knew his name. They just threw a pen and paper his way and he signed without saying anything. One father saw Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and sent his son for a signature. When the kid returned, he asked his pop who's autograph he'd just gotten.
     "The quarterback of the Cowboys, that's who."
     It's a sad state of affairs. But it still beats working for a living.

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