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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

5 Things to Know about the NFL Combine

A few interesting facts about the NFL Scouting Combine - presented by Florida Hospital.

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Photos of the 2017 NFL Combine participants.

  1. The first-ever combine was held in Tampa.**
    The first National Scouting Combine was held in Tampa in 1982. According to the NFL Combine's website, the first combine was established primarily to gain unified medical data from college prospects. A total of 163 players attended the inaugural event.

2. More than 300 prospects will attend the event.
This year, 330 prospects have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. An invitation to the Combine doesn't mean a player is guaranteed to be drafted, though. In 2015, 108 players who attended the Combine were not drafted. Inversely, 41 players who were not invited to the Combine were drafted.

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  1. Each team is allowed 60 total interviews with prospects.**
    Every team at the combine is allowed to speak to 60 total prospects for 15 minutes each. For the most part, teams will use all 60 available interview spots, as the Buccaneers did a year ago. During his press conference on Wednesday, General Manager Jason Licht acknowledged the difficulties in getting to know a prospect in a such a short period of time, but also said that it's a good opportunity to get a preliminary, face-to-face interaction with players he'd previously only known on paper.

4. The combine consists of intellectual tests, in addition to physical ones.
Players will go through a variety of drills at the combine, including the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump and more. Players will also be put through the Wonderlic test, which assesses a player's aptitude and problem-solving ability.

5. The bench press record has been standing for nearly 20 years.
In 1999, Justin Ernest bench pressed 225 pounds 51 times, setting an NFL Combine record. He is the only player in the history of the event to record 50 or more reps. Stephen Paea recorded 49 reps, the second-most, while three other players sit in third with 45 reps.

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