INDIANAPOLIS—
There are 40-yard dashes, leaps, bench presses, running in, out and between cones.Physical exams, weigh-ins and then interrogation by potential employers, broadcasters and scribes.
"I always heard that it was a little bit of a grind," said A.J. Edds, who grew up in Greenwood and would hear of these experiences through word of mouth.
As a young football player growing up just 20 miles from the league's annual talent evaluation session, stories of what a prospect goes through during the weekend in late February were of great interest, even if they weren't the best in substance.
Don't forget it was not such a made-for-television event just even five years ago.
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"It's four days of kinda getting poked and prodded," said Edds from what he'd gathered from the tales he heard coming out of the RCA Dome. "Trying to see if there is anything guys aren't kinda revealing about themselves get brought up."
Unlike many in his position in the Indianapolis area, Edds managed to get a chance to see first hand what it was all about this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium after completing a standout career at Iowa in which he was a three-year starter for the Hawkeyes.
All those stories he heard were true after all.
"A lot of medical stuff trying to dig it up a little bit try to see if anything is there that they didn't know about. So far I've checked out pretty well," said Edds of his combine experience. "The best guys in the world showing up and competing to see whose got what it takes and that's kinda what I've seen so far."
Frankly, that's been about all he's seen, thanks to a schedule that is strictly controlled by the NFL, and has players constantly moving from drills to team sessions to media obligations.
"They're gonna do what they can to keep your plate full, because they don't want guys having free time to kinda go wander," said Edds, who met with the press on Saturday. "It's kinda by design."
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It's not like Edds is complaining, though.
"It's been cool to live the dream a little bit," said the linebacker of the combine. ."Not sure how much I thought it would be a reality. I kinda understood that more and more as I played at Iowa, as my career went on, that it would be a reality."
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To make playing in the NFL one too, he'll have to take advantage of the weekend to break out from the middle of the pack in the 2010 NFL Draft linebacker class. Edds played as a true freshman at Iowa and earned a starting spot his sophomore season and held it till the Hawkeyes' Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech. In his final season, Edds showed a knack for finding the ball, intercepting five passes including one in the Orange Bowl that helped to seal an Iowa victory.
Right now he's projected to go in the middle rounds of the draft, but hopes most teams will look past stats in favor of reliability.
"I just want to show them that I'm a guy that can show up from Day 1 and can be able to compete for a job and be on the field and play and be able to help out," said Edds. "I want to show that I'm accountable, dependable that can show up and contribute right away."
A tight schedule of events can help him do that this weekend, but he does hope to break free for just a bit.
"Hopefully tonight maybe grab my parents for some dinner after all this," said Edds. "I'll see what time it is and go from there."
