With all of the negativity publicity surrounding the NFL in the past few years, most of which stems from off the field incidents involving players, the league has taken things a step further to get things under control. According to USA Today, the league will no longer allow players who have been convicted of domestic violence, sexual assault or weapons charges to attend the highly touted annual scouting combine.
Each year, more than 300 college prospects attend the combine in Indianapolis where they each participate in several on-field tests such as the 40-yard dash, undergo physicals, all under the watchful eye of scouts from all 32 NFL teams. Combine results are very crucial as it effects a players draft stock.
A memo was sent to all NFL teams late last month from league executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, stating that all college players invited to the combine must agree to a background check, and if any of the aforementioned crimes are discovered, they will be uninvited and barred from “any league-related events.” If a player refuses to a background check, they will suffer the same consequences.
Troy Vincent:
It is important for us to remain strongly committed to league values as we demonstrate to our fans, future players, coaches, general managers, and others who support our game that character matters
