In professional football, where the number of people actually playing the
sport is miniscule, how do you get noticed? What would make a pro team or
scout look at you? The bottom line is, you have to play well. "That's
what gets the team's attention -- making a name for yourself on the football
field," says Rich Campbell.
And Campbell should know. He played quarterback with the Green Bay Packers
from 1981 to 1985. "Each position has different requirements. Receivers, running
backs and defensive backs have to be pretty fast. Linebackers typically have
to be big and have pretty good feet, or need to be somewhat mobile. Quarterbacks
need to be pretty smart and have strong arms."
Campbell enjoyed the prestige of the sport and the privilege of being selected
to play. But he actually preferred playing college ball.
"In college football, it's still kind of a pure sport. What I discovered
immediately in the National Football League is that it's almost strictly
business. You feel like a commodity and if you play well, then people like
you and you're significant. If you don't play well, you usually
aren't going to be around for very long, because they'll find somebody
who they think can play better."
And that's certainly a downside of professional football. Players
are traded at whim, and can literally be playing for one team one day and
a different team the next.
"My first piece of advice is to realize that less than one-tenth of one
percent of those who play college football ever have the opportunity to play
professional football. People need to realize early on that their chances
of succeeding in professional football are very small. So they need to go
into it with the idea that if they succeed, good. But if not, they have something
else to fall back on, and not make professional football their chief end in
life."
Someone who knows the challenge of getting noticed by the pros is Duke
Babb of National Football Scouting. National Football Scouting is one of two
scouting "combines" that actually work for the NFL.
"We have the country broken into 11 areas. We have an in-area resident
scout that works directly for National Scouting, and he's assigned to
one area. He scouts all the colleges and universities in his area year-round,
spring and fall. We keep a composite list of all the current players that
are senior eligible at each school.
"We also designate which ones we write up and recommend to the clubs as
possible professional prospects. Those are broken down on different levels,
with some of them rated as draft choices, some as priority free agents, and
some designated as camp prospects," explains Babb.
The group doesn't negotiate salaries, but they're responsible
for scouting the best players all over the country. "Most of the clubs have
four to six scouts, whereas we have 11. They can't blanket the country
with four to six. We do all the basic groundwork, make the recommendations
and give them to the clubs."
During the fall of every year, National Football Scouting compiles reports
on the best of the best in college football. Then clubs meet in Tulsa in December
to review each report. During all star and bowl games, the clubs watch certain
players closely, based on recommendations from the scouting organization.
"Immediately following that, we put on the National Invitational Camp....We
go through a selection process and select the top rated players in each position,
about 340 of them, and bring them in by position for two to three days. The
players go through a complete medical exam, and each position is put through
a set of tests for quickness, agility and balance -- but no contact. Coaches
who coach those positions in the league conduct the tests. All of this is
videotaped, so the teams can watch it over and over again before the draft,"
says Babb. The NFL draft is held in April.
Canadian Football League (CFL) teams have personnel directors who scout
not only the Canadian and American colleges, but also the NFL, NFL Europe
and the Arena League.
"Young players coming through the college ranks who are too small or don't
fit the requirements of the NFL may be better suited for our game. The most
famous of them being Doug Flutie, who was always perceived as being too small
to be an NFL quarterback, who had a tremendous career up here," says Wally
Buono, head coach of the B.C. Lions.
"The CFL is an alternative for a lot of young Americans who want to play
professional football but who maybe aren't big enough or good enough
to play in the NFL. In the NFL draft, a number of players every year don't
make it. But that means they are pretty good football players and can play
here."