The NFL Scouting Combine allows me to get back to my roots as a football fan

I haven’t watched a second of the 2022 NFL Combine which is being held, as always, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Do you know what I watched on Thursday night when I got home from my run? The America’s Game episode about the 49ers 1981 Super Bowl campaign on YouTube.

Maybe you’re not aware of this, but Bill Walsh, in his third season as head coach of a Sad-sack San Francisco franchise that had long since fallen on hard times, was so frustrated about his team’s secondary that he used four of the first five picks of the 1981 NFL Draft on defensive backs—including safety Ronnie Lott (he was pretty good), cornerback Eric Wright, safety Carlton Williamson and defensive back Lynn Thomas.

I wonder how those guys graded out at the 1981 Combine? Was there a Combine in 1981?

Anyway, don’t take this to mean that I haven’t been doing my homework on what’s been going down at the Combine thus far. For example, I know that quarterback Kenny Pickett finally had his hands measured, and even after some intense stretching (presumably) leading up to the Combine, he will still have the smallest hands of any passer in the NFL next year (8.5 inches).

I’m also aware that Malik Willis, the athletic freak of a quarterback with a rocket arm and skyrocketing draft stock, refused to show off his athletic prowess at the Combine but had no problem displaying that arm of his.

Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, meanwhile, likely garnered himself some first-round love in this quarterback-starved world thanks to his overall impressive athletic grades at the Combine.

Also, the Steelers seemed to visit with a bunch of receiver prospects, which means one could be in the mix as a stroke-including (for some fans on draft night) first-round pick.

There’s been some other stuff at the Combine, but I’ll search for that later or tomorrow or the next day, and, much like the research I did for this piece, it will probably take me a few Yahoo articles to find all of the info I’m looking for.

What I’m saying is, despite being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the world of mock drafts and free-agent frenzies, I’ve managed, yet again, to shield myself from wall-to-wall coverage of the Combine this offseason.

I don’t need to immerse myself into that dog and pony show, especially when so many out there—both professionals and amateurs, alike—are willing to compile so much information for me to use in my articles after the fact.

You can’t blame me, though, right? I do need somewhat of a break from football, a time in the offseason where I watch fictional shows on streaming services (Abbot Elementary is a darling new program) and couldn’t tell you if the guy running in the UnderArmor underwear is a current draft prospect or one from 2013. I used to get by just fine as a football fan without having to care—or even know—about the Combine. Now, I have to pretend that I do?

Please.

OK, enough of this Combine stuff. It’s time to go to the gym and get in a little workout of my own. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I'd like the scores of the three-cone drills for every EDGE prospect on my desk pronto.

Thank you.