Matt Chatham: Players In NFL Combine Should Wear Helmets, Shoulder Pads

It sounds crazy, but Johnny Manziel might have been ahead of his time.

The Cleveland Browns quarterback got some attention last year when he elected to throw his Texas A&M pro day in a helmet and pads. But why should playing in the standard NFL uniform be such a novel idea?

Matt Chatham asked this question in his latest FootballByFootball.com column. The former New England Patriots linebacker thinks that players at the NFL Scouting Combine should be performing in pads rather than shorts and a T-shirt.

“Fans at home may not realize this, but the pads and helmet do make a difference in a football players’ ability to make a particular movement … albeit a slight difference,” Chatham wrote. “Every summer, college and pro teams work out like crazy, doing all manners of speed, strength, and conditioning work.

“And every player that’s ever gone through this process knows there’s always some players who perform differently with pads off than on. It’s the annual training camp surprise — the guy that was Superman in shorts and T-shirts, but disappears once the pads go on.”

For Chatham, there’s no good reason why the NFL hasn’t adopted the simple solution of wearing a little extra gear.

“The only plausible argument I can think of for keeping the pads off for the testing is that the new ‘with pads’ numbers would be skewed in comparison to the old ‘without pads’ numbers,” Chatham wrote. “But if there was ever any speed question, you always have the game tape to cross-reference, so it really shouldn’t be that big of a deal. There will be a slight transition period. The old 4.45 40-yard dash time might be a 4.49 now.”