Even though there aren’t referees and a scoreboard, the CFL Combine provides a football fix early in the spring and signals the fact that a new season is near.
There are many reasons why the combine matters ranging from tantalizing Canadian talents to making yourself more knowledgeable than your buddies when talking about the game: five reasons why you should care about the CFL Combine.
1) The majority of non-import talent that enters the league comes through the regional and national combines. It’s where the next Canuck stars launch their pro careers like Justin Capicciotti, Jermaine Gabriel, Antoine Pruneau, Sukh Chungh and Nic Demski just to name a few from recent years.
2) Our country’s pro football combine is more than just underwear Olympics. Prospects at the NFL Combine only run around in spandex and never actually do anything with football equipment on. At Canada’s combine players put on pads and line up in live one-on-ones, which is the highlight for CFL personnel men.
3) Impressive athletic feats. Every year the overall quality of athletes that earn invites to the National CFL Combine improves. Case in point: in 2015 B.C. Lions running back and return man Shaquille Murray-Lawrence set a new laser 40-yard dash record with a 4.41-second time. No longer than an hour later did Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Tevaughn Campbell best that mark running 4.36 seconds. Only five players ran faster than that at the 2015 NFL Combine.
4) It’s really the only event on the CFL calendar that brings the entire who’s who around the league together in one spot. If you ever get the chance to attend a CFL Combine in person you could catch a glance of your teams’ head coach, general manager, commissioner and next wave of Canadian talent.
5) Your favourite CFL team could likely draft players who catch their eye at the combine. So if you look at your teams’ needs regarding Canadians, follow which franchise’s prospects interview with, and pay attention to the players that do well, you can look really smart when talking about who might soon be starring at the CFL venue in your city.
