We talk all the time on this site – and rightfully so – that Paul Brown is known – and rightfully so on that one, too – as “The Father of Modern Football” for all the innovations he brought to the game.

The fact that the Super Bowl championship trophy is not named for the Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach from first the Browns and later the Cincinnati Bengals is laughable. It is a miscarriage of justice, the likes of which should make the NFL ashamed of itself.

But as much of an innovator as Brown was, not even he could have seen this one coming – that is, the incredible interest in the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis that is being held this weekend.

The NFL is so popular, and so much of a spectator sport, that people –lots and lots and lots of ‘em, to be sure — will watch, both in person in the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium and on TV, top draft-eligible players run timed sprints, go through various drills and get weighed and measured.

These guys aren’t even practicing. They’re going through athletic tests.

Whoa!

Now, Brown – and the game’s other deep thinkers from way back in the day – might have been able to come up with it, or at least something remotely close to it, if they looked at the fact that plenty of fans have been attending pro football training camps for years, and then thought about what the next logical step could be. But then again, the combine didn’t even exist, so there was nothing to inspire such ponderings.

Nonetheless, here we are, with the combine getting a bunch of attention.

The only offseason event that eclipses the combine is the NFL Draft, which is the Super Bowl of between-seasons stuff. But that’s another story for another time, about two months from now, in fact.

Steve King