INDIANAPOLIS – Stressful. Trying. Unique.
Those are the terms Jack Mewhort and David Parry use to describe the NFL Combine, or how Parry puts it "the biggest interview of (your) life."
Next week, in four-day cycles, draft prospects will flock to the city of Indianapolis where all 32 teams will have gathered to probe deeper into future decisions that will ultimately decide the fate of billion dollar organizations.
The most well-known element of the Combine is the on-field events, but it's much more than that.
From the medical portion to the extensive interview process, and even just interacting from sun up well past sun down, prospects must know that someone is monitoring their every move.
"You are literally getting interviewed from the second you get up in the morning to 11:30 at night," Jack Mewhort says. "Everything is an interview at the Combine."
Players are dissected like they are in a petri dish---physically, mentally or even socially.
For soon-to-be third-year Colt David Parry, the week did not go according to plan. At all.
Parry first strained his pectoral muscle during the bench press. The following day, his hamstring gave out during the 40-yard dash.
"The combine kind of chewed me up and spit me out," Parry admits.
"Yeah, the Combine kind of sucked for me."
If the worry wasn't high enough for Parry coming out of the physical drills, his heart sunk when he realized he had no formal interviews, compared to 10 for his roommate.
Things turned out alright for Parry. The Colts traded up to take him in the fifth round of the 2015 Draft. He's since started all 32 NFL games.
Predicting teams affinity for a prospect off of Combine interviews will make your head spin.
Parry wasn't interviewed by the Colts.
Whereas Mewhort was, as the Colts had their future starting left guard do some Xs and Os on the whiteboard.
The picking and prodding that goes on at the Combine is endless, but even if it's not obvious, the prospects must understand they are making some sort of impression. Every single minute.
"That's the point and time that you have to start acting like a professional and showing these evaluators that you can handle yourself in the right way and maintain yourself as a piece of a football club," Mewhort says.
A look back at some current Colts players participating in the NFL Combine.
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For the first time ever, you can get in on the action like never before at the new NFL Combine Experience, March 2-5 at the Indiana Convention Center. Watch the bench press up-close; listen to interviews with NFL prospects, coaches and GMs; and be a part of a free fan festival complete with player autographs, virtual reality, the 40yard dash, and more. Get your free tickets at NFL.com/CombineFMP.