Feb. 23, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa – For nine former UI football Hawkeyes – all members of a class of Hawkeyes who completed their careers by competing in three straight post-season bowl games and winning them all – officially begin their quest to be the next Bryan Bulaga Thursday when the National Football League stages Day 1 of the 2011 NFL Combine.
Here’s how the NFL describes this annual event: The 2011 Scouting Combine is the annual job fair for prospective new NFL players. For six days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, players are put through a series of drills, tests and interviews with more than 600 NFL personnel including head coaches, general managers and scouts.
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The list of Hawkeyes who have been invited to this year’s Combine is an awfully impressive one: Christian Ballard, Adrian Clayborn, Ryan Donahue, Jeremiha Hunter, Karl Klug, Allen Reisner, Tyler Sash, Ricky Stanzi and Julian Vandervelde.
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The list of Hawkeyes who have been invited to this year’s Combine is an awfully impressive one: Christian Ballard, Adrian Clayborn, Ryan Donahue, Jeremiha Hunter, Karl Klug, Allen Reisner, Tyler Sash, Ricky Stanzi and Julian Vandervelde.
It’s also rather unique in its length/number: Iowa is one of four college football programs that stand atop the list with nine student-athletes invited to put their talents on full display on the same turf where the Big Ten Conference will stage its first football championship game next December. Seven Hawkeyes participated in last year’s Combine including the aforementioned Bulaga, who completed his rookie season in the NFL with a championship ring as starting offensive lineman on the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.
Here’s a link to the home page for the Combine inside NFL.com: HERE.
Here’s a link to a “Getting to know…” feature on Stanzi produced by NFL.com: ” HERE
The NFL Network will provide live and exclusive coverage of the Combine. The Network’s schedule includes the following highlights:
- On Saturday, live coverage of kickers, offensive linemen and tight ends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Iowa time
- On Sunday, live coverage of running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Iowa time.
- On Monday, live coverage of linebackers and defensive linemen from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Iowa time.
- On Tuesday, live coverage of defensive backs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Iowa time.
Lastly, show your support for the nine Hawkeyes in Indy by casting a vote for Iowa on the NFL Network’s “Combine Team Tracker” Facebook app. To go there, click HERE.