There’s not much to say about the weather in Indy (cold, snowy) or the town itself (drab), but here inside the Convention Center and adjacent Hoosier Dome, all of the future stars of the NFL are prancing through and being judged on every aspect of their career, physicality and future.
Instead of thinking too much — we’ve been here virtually every second since yesterday morning, I just thought I’d send back some notes.
So far:
There was a Jamal Lewis sighting yesterday, as the Browns and Phil Savage re-introduced Lewis back to Cleveland for four more years.
Virtually every coach in the league is here and very available as they walk the convention floor. We’ve done some sitdowns with Ken Whisenhunt, Marvin Lewis, Mike Smith and Jack Del Rio.
John Harbaugh will be speaking to the media at 4:30 today.
(Fun story of the day: I saw Mike Tomlin greet Harbaugh with a “good luck and congrats” handshake at a hotel yesterday afternoon. I made sure Harbaugh knew that Tomlin didn’t really mean it!)
We have approached a pair of Maryland Terps hopefuls, Dre Moore and Erin Henderson, and did sitdowns with them as well for both our audio vault and wnsTV. Andrew Crummey was also by with his left foot in a boot.
We’ve heard that Cam Cameron is not at the combine due to a family emergency.
Today’s podiums have been filled with defensive players, after yesterday’s run of quarterbacks, wide receivers and OL guys.
It’s been very hard to find the current crop of Ravens coaches for us because we don’t know what they look like. But the list of former coaches we’ve chatted with is extensive, including Jedd Fisch, Jeff Friday and John Fassel, who are all looking for their next job in NFL.
Former Ravens special teams coach Gary Zauner is also in Indianapolis and has started a website for punters and kickers and potential special teamers in the NFL. His website is www.coachzauner.com.
Ravens DL coach Clarence Brooks introduced me to current DL St. Louis Rams DL coach Brian Baker, who is from Baltimore and played at Poly in the 1970s for coach Augie Waibel and went on to play at Maryland for Jerry Claiborne and Bobby Ross during the Boomer Esiason years. Nice guy!
Casey Willett has had a fun time at his first NFL Combine, getting a one-on-one for wnsTV with LSU quarterback Matt Flynn. He nearly wet himself! LOL…
There is a Colts gift shop right across from the media entrance in the building (the place is OVERRUN with girls cheerleading troops from across the midwest), and the best item we’ve seen is a $7 Brandon Stokley bobblehead. They’re on sale, since he left the Colts last year. (BTW: I STILL hate seeing Colts stuff when I’m here…I’ll honestly NEVER get over it!)
Last but not least, I saw Jon Gruden again this morning but didn’t have the nerve to approach him…again! LOL. I think he might be a guy I’m just not meant to meet, but one who is just to be enjoyed and appreciated from a distance.
Enough name dropping and storytelling…back to the floor for more interviews!
