[JAFF]

Moving the combine

There’s been an assumption that the NFL Scouting Combine, which has been held in Indianapolis for 36 straight years, is on the way to a more league-lucrative site in Dallas (Jerry Jones is pushing hard for it) or Los Angeles next year. There was a funereal tone of voice for everyone when discussing moving the combine. It’s a universally despised idea. No one has to get in a car here, and on long days, no trek longer than a 12-minute walk is crucial in time management. Anywhere else, it’s a commuter’s convention.

“You watch,” one GM told me. “If the combine moves, you won’t see near the number of coaches here as who come now.”

I asked one coach about that, and he said, “Absolutely right. It’s a huge time-suck for us now. I could see lots of coaches staying away if it moves.”

Here’s why that matters: The NFL needs a TV show. NFL Network needs to focus a camera on John Harbaugh watching workouts when discussion of Ravens comes up. When Daniel Jeremiah is talking about the first pick in the Aidan Hutchinson workout, it would help to see Jags coach Doug Pederson studying the field. So if a bunch of coaches don’t come, the TV studio has fewer stars.

I will add one other item. Every year IU Health shuts down a wing at Methodist hospital so the NFL can do physicals on every potential player who shows up. The NFL leaves, they may have a hard time getting that kind of commitment elsewhere.

King charity Jim Irsay steps up

With the possibility of the NFL Scouting Combine perhaps leaving Indianapolis, it seemed right for those of us in the media who have frequented the combine to say thank you to the city for all the time spent in Indy over the years. So I called on a lot of friends to help do that, in a fundraiser Thursday night: Steve Koers of Sun King Brewing (he provided the space at his downtown brewery), Angie Six (the ace annual organizer of the event), 10 friends in the media covering the combine (to be on hand to answer NFL questions for the crowd of 100), and you readers (81 of you stepped up and bought $25 tickets even though you could not attend) to supercharge the event. The beneficiary would be Teachers’ Treasures, which provides school supplies, gratis, to 270 schools in which at least 60 percent of the students are on free or reduced-cost meal programs. Stepping up without being asked was PR man Matt Conti of the Colts, who donated autographed items to be auctioned.

My goal was to raise $5,000. Teachers’ Treasures, which operates out of a shuttered Kroger supermarket, has a slew of benefactors whose generosity allows every dollar donated to turn into $15 of school supplies. My goal of $5K would fund $75,000 worth of supplies for local teachers. On average, 100 teachers per day walk through the facility to take about $500 worth of supplies to bring back to their classrooms. All free.

This was the best event we ever had at the combine, in interest and attendance and coolness. A Colts fan, Dan Jordan of Noblesville, Ind., won the Jonathan Taylor autographed jersey with a bid of $500. “Seemed like a great cause,” he said. “My wife’s a former teacher.”


The event at Sun King Brewery in downtown Indianapolis on Thursday night. (NBC Sports)
I thought the highlight of the evening was a fan asking Adam Schefter which product he uses on his skin. But the highlight changed a couple of hours after the event. Matt Conti phoned. Seems Colts owner Jim Irsay heard of the meet-up at the brewery. “Mr. Irsay wants to contribute $10,000,” Conti said. “He wants to help Teachers’ Treasures.”

Whoa. Adding the Irsay donation, we had a $15,000 night. We were all over the moon.

I did the math. $15K, times 15 in value … Teachers Treasures will be able to allocate $225,000 worth of school supplies to teachers throughout Marion County from the Thursday night event, and from the generosity of Jim Irsay.

“We’re a small non-profit,” Alicia Van Rensburg, the Director of Development at Teachers’ Treasures, told me Friday. “We have an annual budget of $8.4 million, and to have $225,000 just show up like that … we are just so grateful. And Mr. Irsay’s generosity—we were just floored.

“You have to understand how much is on these teachers’ shoulders these days. They are teachers, parents, social workers, counselors, nurses to these students in so many cases. They’re used to spending $800 to $1,200 a year of their own money to buy everything for these students. Socks, clothes, backpacks, feminine hygiene products in some cases. It is so hard to hear their stories. But they can come to our facility and get a lot of the supplies they need for free.

“That is what makes events like this so vitally important. If this is the last time for the combine here, it’s a beautiful way to go out. Thank you.”

Thank us? Thank you, Teachers’ Treasures. With the possibility of the NFL Scouting Combine perhaps leaving Indianapolis, it seemed right for those of us in the media who have frequented the combine to say thank you to the city for all the time spent in Indy over the years. So I called on a lot of friends to help do that, in a fundraiser Thursday night: Steve Koers of Sun King Brewing (he provided the space at his downtown brewery), Angie Six (the ace annual organizer of the event), 10 friends in the media covering the combine (to be on hand to answer NFL questions for the crowd of 100), and you readers (81 of you stepped up and bought $25 tickets even though you could not attend) to supercharge the event. The beneficiary would be Teachers’ Treasures, which provides school supplies, gratis, to 270 schools in which at least 60 percent of the students are on free or reduced-cost meal programs. Stepping up without being asked was PR man Matt Conti of the Colts, who donated autographed items to be auctioned.


so .

Have a nice Sunday