Reader comments
Combine hard on NFL prospects

Who cares what these guys have to go through so that they can make their fortune? If they don't like it they don't have to do it. As bad as this article makes it out to be, it doesn't seem to hold a candle to the things you have to go through to get a job for the federal government. Let's investigate these boys' backgrounds, submit them to the demands of a polygraph test to verify personal character and ethics, and then see what they think about the combine. They need to stop their complaining.

"It's pretty much a slave market," one said, "and we all know it, but we all know that this is the process you have to go through."

What looser said this? This comment is so awful and it makes me sick. The NFL combine is nothing like a "slave market" I'd like to know which slaves were paid millions of dollars to throw and catch a ball.

This person should be identified for making such a terrible comparison with the awful slave trade.

We need to find better role models then some of these players and coaches. The media needs to do a better job of finding great people doing great things besides just hyping Major league sports. Our kids need to develp other interests. Go spend more time with your kids instead of watching Football. Really.

"Slave Market"? Slaves didn't have a choice, weren't paid millions, and didn't play a game that they loved. These people need to educate themselves and stop making themselves look like idiots. They get dumber every year.

It is amazing that the combines can be compared to a slave market. Overstatement. Lack of historical facts...poor comparison.

Simply put, these athletes are trying to cash in on their athletic ability. The size of the salaries they will get are several times larger than what they could compete for in any other market--like the one their education has prepared them.

Wine and cheese...unreal. Try working a real job, start at the bottom and learn humility.

This article is ridiculous. The combine is not a slave market. It is a venue for potential NFL players to display their talents and abilities. I think that the scouts from the various teams have every right to examine players from head to toe because they will be investing thousands and millions of dollars into those players. If a player doesn't want to be evaluated then he doesn't have to go. Being poked and prodded for a couple of days is a small price to pay for fame, life-long financial security, and the chance to play the game one loves for a living. There are millions of men across the country who would switch places with them in a heartbeat, so to complain about something so insignificant is absolutely absurd.

When I lived in Baltimore I had some friends in church that play for the Ravens. Though the slave market thing is certainly hyperbole, it is a pretty invasive process. The stories they told were pretty crazy.

I agree that these guys are blowing it out of proportion, but if more detail were offered in the article I think people would be surprised what a meat market it is.

Whne I was in high school my coach told me to enjoy my senior season since next year I would be a paid piece of meat in college.

He was correct.

And these college players are just starting to learn that this is a "business" and they are a commodity. Nothing more. They can be legends in their own minds, but it is about what can you do for me, not what you thought you did in college.

The NFL combine is one of the most troubling events in professional sports. Reminiscent of a cattle exchange, prospective NFL players come to be �checked out� by scouts, team doctors, and coaches. This has to be one of the most traumatic experiences of these athletes� lives. They go from big man on campus to just another piece of meat in a matter of months. To an extent, it is understandable for teams to put potential players through a series of tests, because these teams will make a major investment in them; however, the extent to which they go to is a bit extreme in my opinion.Many fans would argue that, �they are going to get paid so much it doesn�t matter; I want to know everything about them.� Why is it that our fanhood gives us the right to delve into matters that are kept hush- hush for a reason? I am of the opinion that while these athletes will be somewhat compensated for the intrusive combine requirements, they are people just like you and me, and don�t deserve to have their unmentionables�mentioned.