It is always interesting to see the differing personalities of the players at the Senior Bowl. At tonight’s opening event hosted by the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, these distinctions were easy to see. Some guys hopped up on the stage and danced with the band, while others stood in the back corner and spent most of their time on their phones. Some walked thru the room talking to Mobile’s nobility, while other gathered with their new teammates and stood around in groups of players unless they were asked for a photo or an autograph.
But perhaps this picture best demonstrates the attitudes of the players. Two guys sitting on their phones texting or playing games, while the other two are spending their time studying their new assignments for the upcoming week of practice.
For those that have never been here, it is hard to understand the pressure cooker environment that Mobile represents for the players. While it may not be quite as bad as the NFL Combine, they are on display 24/7 and every move is being watched and scrutinized by someone. The challenge for the players is that they often can’t tell who is watching them. In the frenzy that is the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel, they truly have no idea who most of the people are as they walk through, unless it is a coach, scout or media member that they have already dealt with.
The practices the next three days go a long way to determining the rise and fall in their draft stocks. As you get the chance to meet most of these kids, you can see that this represents a long-time dream of playing in the NFL.
