Have you ever thrown hours of your life away by watching every minute of the NFL Combine on NFL Network?
Well now, you can waste your time with the Combine in person. The NFL has announced that 6,000 free tickets will be available for the event, which takes place in March each year at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Tickets are already available through the NFL’s various platforms and will allow fans to get up close and personal to the mind-numbing action.
This seemed like an inevitable move, especially since the NFL brought in 1,500 fans to the event last year. And with the event likely making a stop in the Dallas Cowboys’ new practice facility, you know Jerry Jones wants to be able to give fans access to 20-something-year-old men doing the bench press.
Here’s what fans will get by getting one of these free tickets.
Fans can watch the players perform for NFL personnel from the Lucas Oil Stadium stands or interact with them at the Convention Center, where players will be interviewed by the media and participate in autograph sessions.
At the Convention Center, fans can head to an area dubbed “The Combine Corner,” where they will be able to run the 40 and perform other combine drills, including the vertical and broad jump. Other attractions will include an obstacle course where fans can show off their skills against tackling dummies and “The Gauntlet,” where they can take on a barrage of passes thrown from a machine. Fans who take part in the events will have to sign waivers that indemnify the league should a fan suffer an injury.
For those less inclined to get physical, there’s the NFL draft set, where fans can pretend they were just drafted and take a picture behind the podium wearing their team’s jersey.
OK, so here’s why this is a terrible idea. First of all, I know there are meatheads out there who want this, but no one should go to the Combine unless they have to for their job.
Then, there’s the fact they will be right near the media trying to do their job. Having fans right next to press conference areas always seems problematic to me. These people are just trying to ask questions and you will have hardcore football guy cheering on his favorite player and disrupting the whole process.
The Combine is already enough of a bore, so why do we need to bring in the hardcores to make it worse?