By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS “”mdash; Forget Dear Abby. Turn to the NFL combine
for advice.
The congregation of 334 draft prospects, coaches, doctors, staff
and personnel from the 32 NFL teams as well as about 100 media
members produced all sorts of conversation from Friday through
Monday.
For fashion advice, new Washington Redskins coach Steve Spurrier
turned to former Oakland Raiders and current Tampa Bay Bucs coach
Jon Gruden.
“I can’t wear those little visors like Jon. They
just don’t look right on me, but they look good on him.
I’ll have to ask him about that,” Spurrier said.
“I need one of those traditional golf visors; I called
Reebok about that already,” he added, sounding more animated
talking about fashion than about the Redskins positional needs.
Many young men at the combine have more serious concerns than
fashion as they think about how they hope to provide for their
small children. For these 22 year olds, current NFL players can be
a source of marital help. Fresno State quarterback David Carr, the
projected top pick, got advice from his friend and Seattle Seahawks
quarterback Trent Dilfer.
“Trent told me, “˜Send your wife flowers when you go
to the combine,'” Carr said. “So I did. You can
check that off the list.”
With the non-stop medical exams and interviews, players already
have a long to-do list without thinking about the diapers that Carr
practically brags about changing.
Despite the sharing of information, no one could have passed on
enough experience to prepare Wisconsin defensive lineman Wendell
Bryant for the degrading medical exams. Many players complained
about the poking and pulling as they stood nearly naked before the
doctors, staff and players.
“You feel like, “˜This young buck here is 6-foot-4
…,'” Bryant said.
Even if he didn’t get enough advice, Bryant passed on
plenty. The personal finance major obliged reporters requests for
financial advice on their portfolios (imaginary ones, no doubt,
given sports writers salaries).
“Try mutual funds and IRAs,” Bryant said, “I
told people not to put all their money in stocks and they
didn’t believe me, but now they know.”
Bryant left to rub elbows with coaches, and perhaps swap
shopping for stock tips with Spurrier.