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Former USC quarterback Caleb Williams speaks Friday during a news conference at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. (Michael Conroy / Associated Press)
The poking.
The prodding.
The jabbing.
The all-day waits.
The deeply personal questions.
Caleb Williams says no thanks.
The former USC quarterback is expected to be the No. 1 pick at the NFL draft next month. That puts him in a unique position among all the top prospects gathered in Indianapolis this week for the league’s scouting combine.
He seems to have the leverage to skip any part of the combine he wants — including the tedious and often uncomfortable medical examination portion, if he so chooses.
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And he so chooses, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner confirmed Friday at the combine.
“It really came down to not all 32 teams can draft me,” Williams told Pro Football Talk, “so why give all 32 teams my personal medical [information]?”
Players overwhelmingly seem to loathe the combine’s medical examination every year. And what’s not to loathe? In a process that is known to take around eight hours (including massive amounts of waiting and doing nothing), prospects undergo what amounts to probably the most intense doctors’ visit they’ve ever experienced while healthy. CT scans, X-rays and MRI scans are taken. Blood is drawn. An extensive medical history is gathered, with teams sometimes inquiring about minor injuries from the players’ childhoods.
Many NFL executives, however, consider the medical examination to be the most valuable portion of the scouting combine. So no matter how much disdain players have for the ritual, it is believed that no combine participant has ever refused to take part in the medical examination.
Until Williams.
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Skeptics might think he’s trying to hide an injury or some other medical issue, but Williams said that’s…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-poking-prodding-jabbing-caleb-195144213.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-03-01 19:51:44
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