NFL: 'Are you a dog or a cat?' Welcome to the NFL Scouting Combine

Over the next four days in Indianapolis, 319 top draft-eligible prospects will sprint, jump, lift weights, and field unusual questions at the NFL Scouting Combine — a televised audition before league decision-makers and a media crowd rivaled only by the Super Bowl.

For many, it is the most unforgiving job interview in sports.

Before players even have a chance to showcase their skills to all 32 NFL teams, they are measured and weighed — often wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts — and subjected to a series of medical exams, as doctors and trainers evaluate injury risks.

“The joke is that if you are not injured before you come to the combine, you might well be after 15 doctors pull on your limbs,” said famed U.S. sports agent Leigh Steinberg, best known as the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s character in the film Jerry Maguire.

A Pivotal Step Toward the NFL

The combine is a crucial part of the journey from college athlete to professional player. It gives NFL teams one of the best opportunities to evaluate prospects ahead of the NFL Draft, set for April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, where the first overall pick could sign a life-changing four-year contract worth around $50 million.

This week, players aim to boost their draft stock with strong results in a variety of drills, including the marquee 40-yard dash — a high-speed sprint that can shape a player’s future career and earnings. Other events include vertical leaps, broad jumps, 225-pound bench presses, and position-specific drills.

“The testables are relied on to assess players, even though they don’t always correlate with game performance,” Steinberg said. “With all the money spent on this event, it doesn’t reliably predict on-field success as much as people think.”

Tom Brady’s 2000 Combine Moment

A famous example resurfaces every February when a photo of Tom Brady at the 2000 NFL Combine circulates online. The future seven-time Super Bowl champion stands in loose shorts beside an easel with his name, looking anything but legendary.

“Did they stop taking these photos after mine?” Brady once joked on Instagram.

Despite an underwhelming combine, Brady was drafted 199th overall by the New England Patriots in the sixth round. He went on to a 23-year career and is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time.

Off-Field Drama and Bizarre Questions

At this week’s combine, players will also meet with teams where unusual questions are the norm — one wrong answer could harm a player’s draft prospects.

“One player was asked: ‘Are you red or are you blue?’ Another was asked: ‘Are you a dog or are you a cat?’” Steinberg said, who has represented eight first overall picks in his career.

Some of the most important conversations happen off the field, in hotel bars, dark steakhouses, or whispered interactions between scouts and agents.

“The action is taking place … in hotel bars and lobbies. There’s a high degree of schmoozing going on,” Steinberg said. “Agents are trying to figure out which teams are interested in a player and to gauge that interest.”

-Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; editing by Pritha Sarkar/Reuters