INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – This week’s stodgy, old NFL scouting combine is going Hollywood.
The sound of silence will be replaced by music as players work out inside. Results and interviews will appear on Lucas Oil Stadium’s video boards and fans will be encouraged to cheer.
Whether all these changes signal a dramatically different future for the league’s second-biggest offseason event remains unclear.
But after a one-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, draft prospects, scouts, coaches and team officials are eagerly returning to Indianapolis one more time – perhaps the final time.
“I think the owners of clubs would love to bring a tent-pole event to their town from a fan standpoint, from an economic standpoint,” said Jeff Foster, president of National Football Scouting, which runs the combine. “When they moved the draft to different cities and it took off, I think that’s what sparked the interest and that’s why we started looking at it.”