NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent reportedly caused a stir at league meetings Wednesday when he compared the scouting combine to a “slave auction.”
Several owners, including Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, voiced their displeasure to the “slave auction” label, CBS Sports reported.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reportedly talked about the “opportunity” to play in the NFL.
According to CBS Sports, Vincent told owners the combine would have a less rigorous medical evaluation process, something that has drawn criticism in the past.
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Troy Vincent, senior vice president of NFL player engagement, speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., May 1, 2017.
(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We just feel like the overall experience, talking to the players, we can be better in that particular aspect,” Vincent told reporters. “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.
“It’s a great opportunity for the young men, but there has to be some form of dignity and level of dignity and respect as they go through that process. That was the overall theme around our combine [discussion].”
The characterization of the NFL scouting combine as a “slave auction” was brought up in Colin Kaepernick’s Netflix documentary. “Colin in Black & White” explored the former NFL star’s life from high school to the events that supposedly led him to become an advocate for social justice.
One clip that had gone viral on social media showed Kaepernick comparing the scrutiny players receive from coaches to that of slaves.
NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent attends a Super Bowl XLIX press conference Jan. 29, 2015, in Phoenix, Ariz.
(Rob Carr/Getty Images)
“What they don’t want you to understand is what’s being established is a power dynamic,” Kaepernick says while walking through a staged NFL practice field. “Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod and examine you searching for any defect that might affect your performance.”
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“No boundary respect,” Kaepernick, who earned over $40 million during his time in the NFL, added. “No dignity left intact.”
A line of actors playing NFL prospects, all of them Black, then walk by Kaepernick before morphing into slaves at an auction with shackles on while White slave owners bid on them.
Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick arrives for a workout for NFL football scouts and media in Riverdale, Ga., Nov. 16, 2019.
(AP Photo/Todd Kirkland, File)
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At one point, the owners start whipping the players as Kaepernick attempts to make the comparison between the abuse slaves suffered in the United States and the NFL combine process that determines which players are drafted into the league.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
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