FEELING A DRAFT : NFL Prospects Timed, Tested, but Never Rested at Senior Bowl and Combine

Long postcards penned while spending the last three months at NFL meat markets . . . Mobile, Ala., Monday, Jan. 15 .

Dear Mrs. Smagala,

Just thought you’d like to know that your son, Stan, a tough little cornerback at Notre Dame, arrived here safe and sound for this week’s 41st annual Senior Bowl.

By the way, I don’t think anyone warned Stan about the official National Scouting Weigh-In, an annual ritual solemnly conducted in the Azalea Room of the team hotel. When it came time for the 75 players to strip to their skivvies and take turns stepping on the carefully calibrated scale, Stan was easy to spot.

He was the one wearing the black bikini underwear.

This was some show, Mrs. S. The room was crammed with NFL types, bowl officials and reporters--all busily taking notes and comparing player physiques. It had the strange feel of a horse auction.

The players tried to look as if they weren’t nervous, but they were. You could see it in their faces. They were embarking on America’s most bizarre job-interview process, a process that began with the dropping of one’s drawers.

Of course, not everyone minded the imposition. One of Stan’s North teammates, Chad Thorson, a linebacker from tiny Division II Wheaton College, was thrilled just to be here.

“I would have stood up there naked if they wanted me to,” he said.

I told him that wouldn’t be necessary. After all, Stan pretty much took care of that.

Sincerely,

GW.

Mobile, Monday, Jan. 15 .

To: Todd Marinovich, c/o USC football offices.

Todd,

Saw your former Trojan teammate, offensive lineman Brad Leggett, in the hotel lobby. Thirty-five years ago, Leggett’s father, Dave, played in this same game, but he wasn’t subjected to the same scrutiny.

About 21 NFL head coaches, 280 assistants, 200 assorted scouts, a dozen or so player personnel directors and a handful of general managers are here this week. That’s more than 500 sets of trained eyes. And I’m not even counting the contingent sent here by the Canadian Football League teams or the dozens of Armani-clad agents who have flocked here as if it were a stop on their migratory path. You know what most of these agents want--clients and power of attorney.

Brad will get $100 per diem for each of his six days here--about one-third of what players used to get before the NCAA began grumbling about extra benefits and amateur status. The Senior Bowl paid for his air fare, his hotel room, his food, his entertainment, his wristwatch, his medical examination and even his official jockstrap. No room service is allowed, though, and if you try checking out without paying your phone bill, you don’t get your $600. Also, if you stick another player’s helmet logo on your own, you forfeit half of your measly paycheck.

Football people live for silly rules.

Still, for all its quirks, this is the all-star game that matters. If you want a tan, you go to the Hula Bowl. If you want to be seen, trained, coached and evaluated by an NFL staff, then you wangle one of those 75 invitations to Mobile. Last year, 21 of the first 50 draft picks played here, and 71 of the 72 players on the combined North-South rosters were eventually taken. So strong is the appeal that when LSU quarterback Tom Hodson asked his coach, Mike Archer, which all-star game he should attend, Archer didn’t hesitate.

“Senior Bowl,” he said.

By the way, Archer is a coach in this weekend’s East-West game.

Got to go. The first practices start in an hour.

GW.

Mobile, Monday, Jan. 15 .

Dear Mrs. Redding,

Well, your son, Reggie, survived the North’s first workout--barely. After today’s session, he’s probably wondering whom Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy bribed to secure him a spot on the Senior Bowl roster. In short, Reggie, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive guard, had a rough start.

“How did I feel?” he said after the workout. “I want to say, ‘Amazed.’ I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be here. We scrimmaged at the first practice. I felt like I was watching.”

Don’t worry, Mrs. R., Reggie was just a bit star-struck.

“I’m not that good to not be nervous,” he said. “You got a million eyes on you, plus you’re practicing against the top guys in the country.”

And let’s face it, half the players here wouldn’t know where Fullerton was if you handed them a Thomas Bros. Guide complete with the appropriate grid numbers. The guys Reggie tried blocking made weekly appearances on national games of the week.

“Us,” said Reggie, “we were on Prime Ticket.”

Two NFL film crews, perched in the practice field press box, recorded every drill. At afternoon’s end, they developed the film and delivered it to the scouts, who then graded every player. Reggie said he isn’t in any hurry to learn his first day’s score.

The general consensus is that the daily workout performances are more important than the game itself. They’re structured a lot like training camp sessions--lots of hitting, followed by more hitting. Reggie will attest to that. The reason is simple: The pros want to see how a player performs under constant physical and mental pressure.

“Hey, they’re just trying to see what they want,” Reggie said. “I mean, you ain’t gonna buy something without looking at it, are you?”

Viewings continue tomorrow. I’ll keep you informed, Mrs. R.

GW.

Mobile, Monday, Jan. 15 .

Dear Mrs. Smagala,

Stan’s exhausted.

“Man, it was really rough,” he said of the first practice, conducted by Kansas City Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer and his staff. “It wasn’t the hardest practice I’ve ever had, but it was close. My legs are really tight. A lot of players are walking around here goofy.”

Stan said the last time he wore football pads was at the Orange Bowl two weeks ago, when the Irish beat Colorado. Since then, Stan has taken it easy. He practiced his backpedaling a little bit, ran a few miles, but other than that . . . zero preparation.

“I think I started a little too late,” he said.

If you would have seen him limp off the field, you’d know what he meant.

GW.

Mobile, Tuesday, Jan. 16 .

Dear Mike Ditka,

The Chicago Bears are certainly well represented here. But I guess after last season’s dismal record, I can understand why.

Jeff Shiver, one of your scouts, is doing what he can to assess talent. He carries a tiny tape recorder and moves from drill to drill, all the time whispering observations into the microphone. Right now, he has his eye on a certain linebacker who might be worth a pick. He notes how the linebacker drops back into his pass coverage, how he moves in the open field, how he squares up and breaks toward a receiver. That done, Shiver dashes to another part of the field.

Scouts and personnel people love these practices. You’re so close to the hitting that you can see the blood on the players’ jerseys. You can see how a player reacts to getting the bejabbers knocked out of him. You can see what you never see on film--emotion, fear, a swagger.

“The main thing is the physical stuff of the guy,” said Jack Faulkner, the Ram director of football operations who has been to dozens of these games. “You get to see the guy personally. It’s just like watching a horse. You look at one against the other.”

Dick Steinberg, general manager of the New York Jets, tells his scouts to look at players they haven’t seen before, “so that we can get cross opinions.”

Steinberg also instructs his people to carefully evaluate the handful of Division II or III players in the game, such as Thorson.

“We really like to zero in on those guys,” he said. “See if they can adjust to a higher level of competition.”

By the way, Mike, everyone’s asking why you’re not here.

GW.

Mobile, Tuesday, Jan. 16 .

Dear Mrs. Still,

No need to worry about your son, Eric. The All-Southeastern Conference guard from Tennessee is sleeping like a baby. It’s been a long day: Wake-up call at 6:30 a.m., ankle taping at 7, breakfast at 7:30, board a bus at 9, practice from 9:30 to 11, lunch at 12, team meetings from 1 to 1:45, practice from 2:45 to 4:30, dinner at 5 and a players’ party at the hotel lounge from 8 to 11. Everyone, it seemed, was too tired to dance.

GW

Mobile, Wednesday, Jan. 17 .

Dear Mrs. Wyatt,

The South team is coached by Buddy Ryan and his Philadelphia Eagles’ staff. Midway through today’s afternoon practice, Ryan walked over to a drill involving the team’s offensive linemen and defensive linemen, of which your son, Willie, a fine nose tackle at Alabama, was a member. When the 500 or so scouts, coaches, personnel directors and general managers saw Ryan make his way to the scheduled drill, many of them did likewise, forming a human circle around the players, as if they were preparing to view a cockfight.

Willie did well, but other players struggled. One offensive lineman in particular kept missing the snap count or botching his block. With each mistake, you could sense the panic set in. After one miscue, the lineman started pounding the side of his helmet with an open palm.

Stan Smagala, who found himself encircled by scouts in a North practice session earlier that morning, knew the feeling.

“You notice (the scouts),” he said. “They have those little tape recorders to their mouths. You see them and you say, ‘I can’t make a mistake.’ Then you make one and you say, ‘Uh, oh, I just blew it.’ ”

Said Reggie Redding, another member of the North team: “Everybody’s looking at you as a piece of meat.”

By the way, do you remember David Shula? He’s the quarterback coach with the Dallas Cowboys and played wide receiver at Dartmouth. In 1981, he played in the Senior Bowl, the only guy from the Ivy League school ever to receive such an invitation. And in 1986, while a member of the Miami Dolphin staff, he helped coach a team here. Today he watches the drills with mixed emotions.

“As a player, you feel every play is like a game play,” he said. “So many people are watching you every single play. But as a coach, it’s all part of it. In our business, we need to know. If a player’s right shoulder slopes more than his left shoulder, you want to know why. If his right quad(ricep) is a lot bigger than the left quad, you want to know why. You got to put it all together.”

One suggestion, Mrs. Wyatt: When Willie comes home for spring break, give him a hug. He’ll need it after this.

GW.

Mobile, Wednesday, Jan. 17 .

To: Latin Berry, c/o University of Oregon.

Latin,

If it makes you feel any better, you came this close to receiving an invitation to play in this year’s Senior Bowl. Problem was, there were too many good running backs available and only so many roster spots.

Eric Tillman, the Senior Bowl executive director, is the guy who makes the final decisions. Tillman has access to NFL scouting reports and stays in constant contact with personnel directors, who make “suggestions” on whom they’d like to see added to the roster. Because of the competition between the Senior Bowl and other all-star games, most of the invitations are mailed to players in September and October. Some players will decline because of injuries. Others will say no because of fear of injury. Scouts hate that excuse.

What few openings remain are in popular demand. College coaches, especially from Division II and III schools, often lobby for one of their own players to be selected. On occasion, Tillman even gets requests from the parents of players.

In your case, Latin, Oregon Coach Rich Brooks called Tillman about five times during the season with updates. Unfortunately for you, the Senior Bowl already had commitments from Penn State’s Blair Thomas and Minnesota’s Darrell Thompson, two first-round picks-to-be. Tough break.

GW.

Mobile, Wednesday, Jan. 17 .

Dear Mrs. Redding,

Good news: Reggie is doing better. For starters, the guy Reggie had to block that first day--West Virginia defensive end Renaldo Turnbull--is whipping everyone. So, no disgrace there. Also, Reggie appears less intimidated by the proceedings than he did Tuesday. He says he has adopted a new attitude.

“I was making it tough on myself,” he said. “Here, you’re gonna get beat. If you’re not, you don’t have to be here.”

According to one of the bigwig bowl officials, Reggie is an intriguing prospect. He has size and quickness, and the scouts like his disposition. Already he has been interviewed by the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. Every team representative, it seems, wants to know how Reggie ended up at Fullerton. They ask nicely, but they definitely want an answer. So Reggie tells his life story again and again.

These NFL people don’t miss a thing. Word is, the scouts even watch the way a player handles himself in the hotel lobby.

“Hell, they’re probably watching me right now,” says Reggie, who is conducting an interview in that very place.

Paranoia? Hardly.

“Off the field is interesting, too,” said Dick Steinberg. “We see how they adjust to different environments. There’s also a different group of people coaching them. We see how (the players) conduct themselves. Hey, there’s pressure. Most of the head coaches in the league are here.”

One of Reggie’s teammates, quarterback Tom Hodson, is trying to pretend that the presence of coaches and scouts doesn’t affect him.

“I don’t want to worry about all that stuff,” he said. “I just need to relax and just chuck it.”

Hodson isn’t very convincing.

Time to leave. The South’s afternoon practice at Fairhope High School begins soon. Talk to you later.

GW.

Mobile, Thursday, Jan. 18 .

To: Bobby Bowden, Florida State head coach.

Bobby,

How proud you must be, what with four FSU players here, including quarterback Peter Tom Willis. So popular is Willis that fans are asking him to sign his autograph on actual $1 bills. He obliges, but not before doing a doubletake at the stationery.

Willis is a confident sort. He said he doesn’t think the Senior Bowl “will make or break you. I think I proved myself during the year. But this definitely can help.”

Bobby, if you have a moment, you might want to call Peter Tom and have a little heart-to-heart chat. Seems that he doesn’t quite understand the importance of the Senior Bowl. As easily as the game can enhance a player’s worth, so too can it lessen it. Peter Tom hasn’t figured this out just yet.

For instance, Gary Stevens, an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins, is here to evaluate only quarterbacks and receivers. He keeps a page in his notebook for each prospect and records pluses and minuses for things such as foot speed, release time, arm strength,work habits and ability to recognize defenses. The pluses and minuses are totaled at week’s end, and from this comes a better picture of a player’s potential.

“What you got to understand is that we’re going to invest a lot of money in these kids,” Stevens said. “These kids can come out of here with a lot of money. All I know is that if I was putting up a lot of money to buy a kid, I think I’d want to know as much as I could about them.”

Perhaps you can mention this to Peter Tom.

GW.

Mobile, Thursday, Jan. 18 .

Dear Mrs. Bellamy,

Your poor son. At the moment, Mike is wearing a borrowed high school helmet about two sizes too small, a pair of cleats that don’t feel right, a pair of football pants that don’t fit and a set of shoulder pads that flop loosely about with each stride.

That’s right, the airline lost his Illinois-issued equipment bag.

Mike, a gifted wide receiver, isn’t having a banner day. He arrived in Mobile late Wednesday, which means he gets just one day of practice. Truth is, Mike almost didn’t accept the Senior Bowl invitation. He said he didn’t want to miss classes, but changed his mind after speaking with his head coach and several Illinois professors, who told him to go ahead.

So what happens? His equipment bag is misplaced, leaving Mike with nothing more to wear than high school hand-me-downs.

“The helmet is real tight,” he said. “These aren’t my shoes and these aren’t my pants. These things . . . it’s like wearing somebody else’s pajamas.”

Already scouts, personnel directors and agents are asking Mike why he was a late arrival.

“School,” he replies.

Something tells me Mike’s response doesn’t go over real big with some of the football types here who think X and O are the only two letters in the alphabet.

I’ll keep you informed, Mrs. B.

GW.

Mobile, Friday, Jan. 19 .

Dear Mrs. Smagala,

The race for the airport began Thursday night and continues today as coaches, scouts and personnel directors leave town by the carload. The full-contact practices ended yesterday, which, to tell the truth, is what most of these NFL people came to see anyway. The game is nice to watch, but the detailed evaluating came during the workouts. Besides, each team will get a copy of the Senior Bowl game film--so why stay?

Not much planned for today. A Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast is scheduled to begin at 8 (attendance optional). The featured speaker is, ta-da, Christian Okoye, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs and an alumnus of the 1987 Senior Bowl.

Okoye is a legend here. During that 1987 weigh-in, players literally fled to the back of the line rather than be positioned next to the 6-foot-1, 253-pound Okoye.

“The best body we’ve ever had in the game,” said Vic Knight, public relations director. “That was a classic. Everyone looked kind of puny next to him.”

At 10:30, the players will visit a local children’s hospital for an hour and then return to the hotel for lunch. A brief practice is scheduled for 2:45, followed by an autograph session at Ladd Stadium. After that, the players are free until midnight curfew.

FYI: Stan did himself proud this week. According to the scouts, he proved he could handle man-to-man coverage, which was a question mark at week’s beginning.

GW.

Mobile, Saturday, Jan. 20 .

Dear Mike Ditka,

Just in case you’re busy filming another commercial and don’t get a chance to see the Senior Bowl game film, here are some highlights:

--The North won, 41-0. A classic, it wasn’t. At one point, fog enveloped parts of the stadium, giving it the eerie look of the Bears-Eagles playoff game at Soldier Field a few years ago. And wouldn’t you know it, Buddy Ryan lost this one, too. How pleased you must be.

--Blair Thomas, a Penn State running back, improved his draft status from a probable top 10 pick to a likely No. 2 overall selection. Thomas gained 137 yards (106 in the first half) in just 11 carries.

“I’ve never seen a guy move so quick from side to side,” said an amazed Reggie Redding, one of the guys blocking for him Saturday.

--The scouts also had kind words for Reggie Turnbull, who recorded two sacks, one quarterback pressure, one pass defensed and seven tackles; offensive linemen Redding and Texas A&M;’s Richmond Webb; Tom Hodson, who completed eight of 14 passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and Kirk Baumgartner, a Division III quarterback from Wisconsin Stevens Point, who completed seven of 11 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns, one of which had Coach Marty Schottenheimer jumping for joy on the sidelines.

“What a . . . throw,” screamed Schottenheimer after the scoring pass.

Needless to say, Baumgartner helped himself.

“This is a big day for me,” he said. “I had a little bit to prove to the pro scouts.”

So did Redding, who began the week slowly but improved each day.

“I would say I was average,” he said. “I hope the (scouting) combine will be better. I got to be a little more intense, I believe.”

--Keith McCants, the Alabama linebacker expected to be the No. 1 pick in the draft, spent considerable time chatting with the Jets’ Dick Steinberg. The Jets have the No. 2 selection. There is also talk that the Atlanta Falcons, who choose No. 1, might pass on McCants because of potential negotiating problems. Thomas is a possibility, as is Illinois quarterback Jeff George, who still hasn’t decided to enter the draft a year early. (He eventually declares himself available).

--Eric Still played the game despite injuring his ankle at practice earlier in the week. Under normal circumstances, he would have had the injury attended to. Instead, he kept it secret and plugged along.

“I didn’t want everybody to say, ‘Here’s a guy trying to get out of something,’ ” he said. “That would get around and so forth.”

Now he faces a new dilemma: Will the ankle be healed in time for the National Football Scouting combine later this month?

That’s all for now, Mike. See you at the combine?

GW.

Indianapolis, Tuesday, Jan. 30 .

To: National Football Scouting.

To whom it may concern,

Whatever you’re paying Duke Babb, who runs the NFS combine for you, it’s not enough. The guy doesn’t quit working.

He got here Sunday and immediately set up the combine office headquarters. On Monday, he helped tag and organize workout gear for the 340 invited players. Today he met with his crew and tended to last-minute details, such as renting a calibrated weight scale, or overseeing the construction of scaffolding for NFL photographers and video crews, or checking to see if the training room was satisfactory or assigning seating at the Hoosier Dome, where the workouts will take place.

In 1982, the first year of the combine, only 150 players were flown to Tampa for testing. Those were much simpler times. Back then, the players were given medical examinations and nothing more.

“First thing you know, someone says, ‘Why don’t we weigh them, measure them, time them?’ ” Babb said. “Now we do everything we possibly can do with them.”

The result is a meat market extraordinaire.

“Anybody who’s anybody will be (at the combine),” said Jeff Shiver, a Bear scout. “All the head coaches will be there. And the agents will be lined up 15 deep at Union Station (where the players’ hotel is located).”

The combine is like a finishing school for pro prospects. No contact drills allowed. Instead, players are asked to perform a long list of agility, speed and strength tests. It is a place where athleticism is often mistaken for pure football skill.

Or as the Cowboys’ David Shula said: “At the Senior Bowl, you get to see a guy as a football player. You go to Indianapolis and you see guys in shorts.”

Despite its flaws, the combine presents the only opportunity for the nation’s best college seniors and the NFL’s coaching and scouting elite to meet under the same roof. Every drill is recorded on film. Every measurement and time is committed to paper. Every nuance is noted by the hundreds of team officials who sit in the stands.

It wasn’t like this in 1957, the year Babb was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 19th round of the draft.

“I don’t even think I was weighed or measured,” he said.

So much for science.

Bye.

GW.

Indianapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 31 .

Dear Mrs. Still,

Eric checked into the hotel today, but his ankle is still sore and stiff. It’s doubtful he’ll take part in many of the drills. This has him worried: What will the scouts think?

“I’m probably a bit more nervous than somebody else,” he said. “The last couple of days before I came up here, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t hardly think straight.”

Eric, a transportation major, brought several marketing research books to study. Fat chance. Right now, “Leave It To Beaver” is on the tube. After that, Eric plans to nap.

“I feel like somebody drugged me up,” he said.

Shortly after he checked in, Eric was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays. The technician positioned him in front of the machine and started clicking away. After a while, Eric became a bit concerned.

“I’m not going to start glowing here, am I?” he said. “I mean, I hope I don’t go sterile.”

Something was wrong with the machine. By the time the technician was satisfied that the equipment was working correctly, Eric had stood still for 20 X-ray exposures.

From there, Eric was given a blood test and an EKG, and had his blood pressure taken. When he returned to the hotel, combine officials recorded his knee strength on a Cybex machine. This is just the beginning. The real fun starts tomorrow with the complete medical exam.

Until then.

GW.

Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 1 .

Dear Mrs. Redding,

Reggie’s morning began with a wake-up call at 6 o’clock and a warning not to go to the bathroom. Reason? Urinalysis tests, all of them monitored by combine officials. Some job.

Breakfast came next. After that, Reggie had to fill out a form detailing his medical history for the last five years. Then on to the Hoosier Dome.

Each of the 28 clubs is usually represented by a team trainer, a team physician and an orthopedic surgeon. Their job is to examine each player and make sure the medical history corresponds with the athlete’s actual physical condition. In short, make sure the player isn’t damaged goods.

The offensive linemen went first.

“There were six stations,” Reggie said. “They did everything. They pulled you, poked you. It was kind of amazing when you first looked at it. Basically, they were doing the same things to you. It was weird. They twist your ankles, pull your knees, look at your hands, your shoulders, give you hernia tests and all that. This is done while, like, 15 guys are looking at you.”

Said Eric Still: “After a while, you get there and realize it’s a business. They look at you like a bunch of cattle.”

The medical exams took the entire morning. From there, the players were taken to a weight room, where they were asked to bench press 225 pounds as many times as possible. For weaklings, there is a 185-pound available. Duke Babb can’t remember the last time a player used it.

Back to the hotel they went, where various team officials waited. The New York Giants had a man stationed near the hotel elevators. His job was to ask players to take a personality test. Reggie took the test. Read one question: What would you rather be, a dog or a cat?

“I said, a dog,” answered Reggie. He still doesn’t know why.

The Denver Broncos administered a test that asked players to match shapes with certain items. “But I don’t know why,” Reggie said.

The Broncos, as well as the Dallas Cowboys, later conducted a long interview with Reggie. As usual, they asked how he wound up at Fullerton.

“I’ve told that story about 800 times,” he said.

And then there is the Wunderlich Test, which is a multiple-choice exam given to each player at the combine. It’s sort of like a mini-version of the SATs. According to at least one NFL official, a high score on the test can improve a player’s draft standing by as much as a full round.

Reggie didn’t complete all the answers; not enough time, he said. Taking the advice of previous combine participants, Reggie skipped the math questions and concentrated on other parts of the test.

By the way, you should see Reggie’s combine roommate. He played for Maryland, chews tobacco and talks as though he had been raised in the Deep South. So Reggie asked him where he was from.

“Cleveland,” the guy said.

GW.

Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 1 .

To: Gene Upshaw, president of National Football League Players Assn.

Gene,

Congratulations on sending members of the NFLPA staff here for a fourth consecutive year. The NFL isn’t crazy about it, but, hey, it doesn’t own sole rights to the hotel lobby, right?

You’ll be happy to know that the NFLPA meeting held Thursday night drew a respectable crowd of interested but confused players.

Among the topics discussed was the importance of choosing the right agent, the importance of a college degree, the importance of challenging the league’s proposed rookie wage scales, the realities (both physical and financial) of playing in the NFL. This is sobering stuff.

“The real problem is that (the players) get involved in a fantasy world,” said Michael Duberstein, an NFLPA official. “They really don’t have much of an orientation into the major issues that really confront them. What if you get hurt? What if an agent tries to give you money? There’s a lot of scum walking through the lobby. It’s more important for them to know at this point what their rights are, what’s changed.”

Good luck. Right now, these college seniors are more worried about running fast 40-yard dash times on Friday.

“I went to the meeting,” Reggie Redding said. “I was thinking, ‘You’re telling this to these young guys. Why did this guy tell us all this?’ I don’t think it’s going to sink in until you get in the business and see what they’re trying to do to you. The first two years, you’re thinking about making the team. You can’t go in there mouthing off. Once you establish yourself, you can do that type of stuff (the NFLPA) is talking about.”

See what I mean, Gene? Anyway, nice try.

GW.

Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 1 .

Dear Todd Marinovich,

Since you and your dad are big on preparing for the future, I thought it only right to warn you about agents. Don’t get me wrong, a good many of them are fine, reputable and ethical people. But now that the NFLPA no longer certifies agents, anyone with a suit and a phone number can represent a player. Michael Duberstein of the NFLPA politely refers to them as “the scum.”

The scouting combine is a prime location for client solicitation. The players are conveniently located, making it easy for an agent to introduce himself as a player checks in or attempts to get on one of only two hotel elevators. There are also agents here that baby-sit players, making sure another agent doesn’t steal a client away.

Eric Still chose his agent weeks ago. Yet, he still receives phone calls and correspondence from agents who won’t take no for an answer. A few nights ago, he got a call from an agent at midnight.

Brochures are popular among the legitimate agents. One agent even sent a videotape that showed him negotiating an actual contract.

“It was interesting,” Still said.

Then there is the not-so-legitimate side of the business, where you need a pair of waist-high boots to step through the sales pitches and offers.

Stan Smagala got so tired of the calls that he quit answering his phone or never returned their messages.

Odell Haggins, a lineman from Florida State, said there are agents “who are always offering you things. They want to buy you, give you gifts. Money. Cars. All kinds of stuff. They want to give money to your mother.”

Word has it that an agent offered one member of the Senior Bowl roster a night’s worth of female companionship if the player would sign on the dotted line. Entirely possible, said Thomas Darden, a former Cleveland Brown who now represents players for a sports management group in that city.

“It’s very dog-eat-dog,” Darden said. “There’s no regulation. I came here to talk to players, but I want them to know that this is a business. You can throw away (the school colors). You are a commodity now. The important thing is the preservation of your dollar.

“But let’s face it, you’re talking about a kid here. When I was doing this, all I wanted to do was put on a Cleveland Browns helmet and play. That’s how most of these guys are.”

Now you know.

GW.

Indianapolis, Friday, Feb. 2 .

Dear Mrs. Still,

No one other than NFL or NFS personnel are allowed to view the workout sessions. If you don’t have one of two badges issued by combine officials, you’re thrown out on your ear. Believe me, I can vouch for their efficiency.

Everything is organized just so. In fact, a lottery is conducted to determine where team personnel directors will sit at the Hoosier Dome, the best seat being on Row 1, the worst on Row 28.

The players arrive by 8 a.m. Today the offensive and defensive linemen, as well as kickers and punters, will be tested. The process is repeated Saturday with defensive backs, linebackers and tight ends, and Sunday with running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers. The players are weighed and measured. Then full-length still photos are taken of a player’s front and back. Arm length and hand span are measured.

Stretching exercises are conducted on the field. Once those are done, five flexibility measurements are taken. The all-important 40-yard dash follows. Each player gets two tries, and times are recorded at the 10-, 20- and 40-yard marks by a pair of timers. Up in the stadium seats, the personnel directors are doing the very same thing.

“You stay in the stands, just like you’re bidding on a horse,” Jack Faulkner said. “They give you all the times, but still, everybody’s got a damn watch. After each guy we’ll say, ‘What’d you get?’ ”

The players then do skill drills, with each drill conducted by an NFL coach who coaches that position. After that, comes the vertical jump, the standing long jump, the 20-yard shuttle run, the 60-yard shuttle run and a four-square cone drill. The cameras are whirring the entire time.

The whole thing takes about two to three hours.

“We don’t dilly-dally around,” Duke Babb said.

Then it’s back to the hotel, where the players pack and catch the next flight out of town.

As expected, Eric’s strained ankle prevented him from running in any of the drills. He wasn’t alone. About four or five other players in his group were unable to participate because of injuries.

Reggie Redding described his performance as disappointing.

“I messed up on a couple of drills, mostly the 40 (dash) and the 20-yard shuttle,” he said. “I’ve run a 4.89 (dash). There, I ran a 5.1. In the shuttle, I ran a 5.5. The average was 4.6.”

GW.

Fullerton, Thursday, March 1 .

Dear Mrs. Redding,

For reasons unknown, several teams have flown Reggie to their facilities and given him another physical, as if the combine medical exam wasn’t enough. Club officials also asked him to run the 40-yard dash again and try several skill drills.

“I’m just doing what I’m told,” Reggie said.

The same goes for Eric Still. He came home from the combine on Friday, Feb. 2. On Feb. 7, his ankle feeling much better, Still worked out for a visiting pro scout.

“I didn’t mind,” he said. “I’ll do everything I can.”

NFL draft day is April 22. Eric plans to spend the day with his parents in Memphis. Reggie wants to hole up in his Fullerton apartment and watch the proceedings by himself. Until then, they wait and wonder.

It has been a strange, sometimes dehumanizing journey. It began with an underwear show and will end with the players watching their television sets, their futures determined by the whims and needs of a personnel director. What an odd way to earn a job.

But guess what? Reggie would gladly repeat every wacky, pressure-cooked moment.

“I’d tell someone to enjoy it,” he said, “because you probably won’t go through nothing like it again.”

GW.