NFL owners get defensive after scouting combine is compared to 'slave auction' by league exec Troy Vincent
CBSN
Vincent was criticizing the evolving process for measuring and analyzing draft prospects
IRVING, Texas -- Several NFL team owners took offense Wednesday at league meetings when NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent referred to the NFL scouting combine as having characteristics of a "slave auction," multiple people present in the room told CBS Sports.
Vincent spoke to ownership Wednesday morning, announcing changes to the combine that would involve a less tedious medical evaluation process and a closer look at questions teams ask of draft prospects. The combine and other pre-draft evaluations have been criticized for what some consider dehumanizing methods of getting information about players.
"We just feel like the overall experience, talking to the players, we can be better in that particular aspect," Vincent told media later in the day. "So there was, I would say, a good discussion around what that looks like, where we could be, keeping in mind that the combine is the player's first experience with the National Football League, and in that experience, there has to be dignity.
