Successful Trip to the Senior Bowl
By Creig Federico
Previous ELITE National Director

In attendance is nearly every NFL team owner, general manager, personnel director and scout. They fly in from around the country to attend and, in fact, I usually end up running into many of them on my flights. This turns out to be a great time to catch up and discuss the upcoming draft and what's new with ELITE Combines.  

Attending the Senior Bowl each year allows me to represent ELITE Combines amongst the entire NFL and pro football community. It's a perfect time for me to see old friends and coaches, meet new scouts and visit with scouts who attended past ELITE Combines. With the addition of the ELITE National Combines this year, there's plenty for me to talk about!

On Monday morning I arrived at the Senior Bowl headquarters hotel. My first objective was to pick-up my credentials which permit me access to the player weigh-in, practice sessions and other events throughout the week.

After receiving my credentials, I was waiting to enter the hotel ballroom to observe player weigh-ins and had a chance to speak briefly with several scouts from the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons who had attended ELITE combines. While talking with them, I was introduced to a scout from the Washington Redskins who I had exchanged emails with and spoken to by phone, but never met in person. It was nice to finally put a face to a name. With so many scouts in the NFL, even after five years, I still occasionally find myself being introduced to someone for the first time.

The Senior Bowl game and practice sessions are held at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

During the weigh-in players are dressed in shorts and socks in a single file line. As each player is announced he proceeds up a few stairs and walks across a stage to where his height and weight are measured and announced for all to hear. He will then step down from the stage and walk down the middle isle of the ballroom, through the scouts, toward the back of the room. The walk puts the player on display and is purposely designed to give scouts an opportunity to see each player's physical stature.

Although the weigh-in is important, for the real action, you have to attend the practice sessions. Here the scouts observe and evaluate each player during one-on-one drills, similar to those conducted at each ELITE combine. Like ELITE Combines, the Senior Bowl includes a mix of players from different divisions which allows scouts to evaluate how lower division players compete against Division I talent.

While at practice, I was fortunate enough to meet with player personnel decision-makers from the Tampa Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks. It was great to hear how excited they were about the ELITE National Combine. They adamantly confirmed that they will be there!

In addition to talking with NFL personnel on the field, I made it a point to go into the stands and talk with individual scouts. I am glad I did, as I ended up meeting a scout from the Steelers with whom I previously spoken by phone but never met in-person.

Another very important aspect of the week long activities is the player interviews. Teams will target players they are interested in and schedule evening interview sessions. Believe it or not, character really does count and is taken into serious consideration on draft day. By team request, player interviews will be included at the ELITE National Combine.

On top of the long days and constant evaluation, it is interesting to note the steep learning curve players experience at the Senior Bowl. With NFL coaching staffs, the players are being bombarded and overloaded with offensive/defensive schemes, position techniques and a practice intensity they had not been exposed to in college. One scout indicated to me that one NFL team puts in up to 200 plays per week. Try keeping up with that pace! I don't think my entire college playbook had that many plays.

At the conclusion of each day, I attended social gatherings held for league personnel. One evening, I was speaking with a Packers scout when he informed me they had signed a ELITE player in December....wide receiver Mike Marker. Mike attended the 2004 Chicago ELITE combine and recorded an FTG of 9.37. Mike finished the season with the Packers and is now being allocated to NFL Europe for further development.

My trip to the 2005 Senior Bowl was another productive week of meetings with friends and colleagues from around the NFL. The league-wide response to the ELITE National Combine has been extremely positive and I will continue to get more team commitments in the coming weeks. My goal is to provide players at the ELITE National Combine the same intense exposure received by players here at the Senior Bowl, as well as the National Combine in February.