Tweet
NFL Network won't show shirtless players
INDIANAPOLIS - Television viewers hoping for some beefcake at the NFL Scouting Combine will be sorely disappointed.
"There was concern from current NFL players that the participants would be more comfortable if they were not paraded around without their shirts on," combine director Jeff Foster said Saturday. "It was an entirely appropriate suggestion. The weigh-ins should never have been televised."
Foster didn't know which players lodged the complaint, but it's believed to have come from NFL Player Association representatives who attend the Combine for union matters.
Foster said any drills that would potentially involve a shirtless player also are off-limits to NFL Network, which has exclusive television rights to the Combine.
All 335 combine participants are measured, a process that helps clear height and weight discrepancies. For example, highly-touted wide receiver DeSean Jackson was measured Friday at 5-foot-9 — two inches shorter than he was listed by the University of California.
Previous televising of the weigh-ins drew negative attention to some NFL prospects, especially those who are overweight. Pre-draft media criticism of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, last year's No. 1 overall pick by the Oakland Raiders, increased after the NFL Network telecast his tipping the scale at 265 pounds.
There are modesty issues as well. A photo of Tom Brady wearing only gray gym shorts from the 2000 Combine was shown during the NFL Network telecast of December's regular-season finale between New England and the New York Giants.
"I am so happy they didn't videotape my Combine," NFL Network announcer and former wide receiver Cris Collinsworth said as Combine footage of Brady aired.
Comment