The NFL scouting combine is not a slave auction
Christopher Tremoglie
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Only in the United States could a physical evaluation of athletes, many of whom get paid more in one year than what the average American earns in a decade, be considered discriminatory, intrusive, and compared to slavery. It is outright nonsensical and indicative of the horrible indoctrination in our nation. Yet that was the argument made by the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, in December. Now, DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, wants to eliminate the scouting combine.
Smith suggested abolishing the event during a press conference after being asked about Vincent’s comments.
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“Think about it. … The NCAA and the NFL structure a combine during what should be every football player’s what? Last semester in college,” Smith said during the NFLPA’s annual Super Bowl news conference. “Who decided that it was a good idea to take your son and have him exclusively try out for the NFL’s exclusive way of getting into the league — for the most part, unless you’re a free agent player? You have to be invited to the combine.”
“As soon as you show up, you have to waive all of your medical rights, and you not only have to sit there and endure embarrassing questions,” Smith said. “And I think that’s horrible, and I don’t wanna pooh-pooh any of that, but would you want your son to spend hours inside of an MRI [machine] and then be evaluated by 32 separate team doctors who are, by the way, are only doing it for one reason? What’s the reason? To decrease your draft value.”
It is a foolish statement by Smith. The combine’s purpose is not to decrease one’s draft value; instead, to the contrary, it’s held to ensure an appropriate return on investment. Owners give players contracts worth hundreds of thousands, millions, and tens of millions of dollars. They hope to put the best athletes, best players, and best talent on the field to build a winning team and appease their city’s fanbase. That’s the main reason the players make so much more than the coaches in charge of the teams.
Even more absurd is comparing the combine, or anything to do with professional football, to a slave auction. It was Vincent’s comments that were referenced last week, but similar statements were made by Colin Kaepernick during a Netflix “documentary” and insinuated by LeBron James during his HBO Sports series, The Shop.
Moreover, the scouting combine regularly gives athletes the opportunity to increase their value and receive opportunities that would not be afforded to them. Regularly, one hears stories about how a great performance at the combine allowed someone to be chosen in the NFL draft that might not have otherwise made it. A legitimate argument can be made that the combine actually creates wealth and fortune — something slaves did not have.
Such commentary is utterly stupid, offensive, and not even worth commenting about. Yet, given the hyperracial society in our country, anything critical or demanding of people has to, in some way, be linked to racism, oppression, or discrimination. It must be pointed out that all the tests and drills that occur at the combine are nothing compared to what any slave throughout the history of the world endured. Enslaved people were in bondage and the property of another human. NFL players are millionaires and get access to wealth that most people can only dream about — for playing a children’s game.
Comparing anything professional football players, or any professional athlete, has to endure today to the evils and horrors of slavery is pure ignorance. It’s reflective of the privileged entitlement that plagues our society today. Millionaires are whining about doing work, playing games, being well compensated, and they dare to complain that it’s akin to slavery. It’s enough to make you want to stop watching professional sports like the NFL.
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