Mark Brunell survived a Scouting Combine experience when seemingly no one wanted him, and didn’t know what to make of the event or what it meant.
So after turning that inauspicious start into a long NFL career, he’s hoping to pass along some of what he learned.
Via Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press, Brunell served as a mentor to players at the Combine this year, his fifth year in a program which also includes a number of former players including Hall of Famers John Randle and Rod Woodson, along with other former players including Chad Pennington, Amani Toomer, Steven Jackson, Mike Rucker, and others.
The former Jaguars quarterback recalls being an afterthought in 1993, when he got a late invite to the process.
“I wish I had someone like me back in 1993, just somebody to ask questions of, a veteran guy who had been through the process,” he said. “It would have been very helpful because I didn’t know anything, I got a late invite to the Combine. I was fortunate to be there. I didn’t play a lot in college, my sophomore year, a little bit my senior year. I came into the Combine very raw, not knowing anything. So, that would have been helpful.”
He recalled only being interviewed by two teams at the event, (the Browns and Chiefs) and was eventually picked in the fifth round by the Packers. He said he thought then-Packers coach Mike Holmgren saw some Steve Young in him (maybe it was just the left-handedness), and that was enough to get a foothold.
“It only takes one team to fall in love with you,” Brunell said he tells prospects. “I said a year ago, there was a kid just happy to be at the Combine, had some good stats in college, he was hoping to get drafted but he knew he was probably a late-round draft pick in all likelihood. If he wasn’t drafted, he was hoping to get on a team as a free agent. His expectations were high, but he came in realistic. He came in here and he just relaxed, he was himself, he just did his best. That was a year ago. I said, ‘Today, he’s the starting quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars.’
“The easy story is Joe Burrow has a magical season, wins the Heisman, wins the national championship, we can see how that’s going to play out. But it’s those fifth- and six-round picks, it’s the Tom Brady stories, it’s the Gardner Minshew stories, that I think is the coolest thing about this whole process.”
And he’s happy to help the next generation navigate the process.
