One of the most important aspects of the NFL Combine is the interviews draft prospects have with teams. This is usually the first opportunity scouts and general managers have to meet with these prospects, and a lot of questions teams ask players can be personal, funny, or just strange overall.
Ross Blacklock didn’t know he had 37 parking tickets until the Raiders told him
Looks like Las Vegas really helped him out with this info!
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
So far this year, the funniest thing to come out of combine interviews was with former TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock. During his interview with the Las Vegas Raiders, they asked him about the whopping 37 parking tickets he had — and Blacklock didn’t even know about them!
OK, I have some questions. First, how does someone even acquire 37 parking tickets? I’m assuming these happened on campus, which, let’s be honest, doesn’t mean much. The other thing I’m confused about is how Blacklock didn’t know about them whatsoever — 37 is a lot of tickets!
Teams asking odd questions isn’t something new. In the past, prospects have been asked what type of animal they would be, if they prefer boxers or briefs, or even what they could do with a brick.
Here’s former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz on what the interview process at the combine can be like:
These interviews go one of two directions. There are the interviews that can cause a stir. Inappropriate questions get asked. Teams make the interviews stressful to see how the players will handle it. I’ve been curious about these style of interviews, so I asked my coaches about them. One coach, who won’t be named, told me his job was trying to make the player cry, however possible.
The other type of interview is exactly how you’d be interviewed for a regular job. They are cordial. They ask you to draw up plays. They show film of your season and ask you about certain plays. Each team uses these 15 minutes how they want.
Blacklock, who declared for the draft as a redshirt junior, is a potential Day 2 prospect — Dan Kadar’s mock draft from earlier this month had him going No. 51 overall to the Cowboys. At least we know the Raiders are doing their due diligence on him, and it looks like they might’ve even helped him out by doing so. Hopefully Blacklock gets these tickets paid, or at least taken care of, before the draft in April.
