Indianapolis has been the consistent host for the NFL’s scouting combine since 1987, allowing teams to evaluate college player’s talent on the field and personality traits.
Because of this years Super Bowl was a disaster in Dallas, media and team personnel agree—Indy will do an exceptional job hosting Super Bowl XLVI, assuming there is a collective bargaining agreement in place.
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King had high marks for Indianapolis in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. Below is an excerpt:
• Spotted at a table at St. Elmo’s Steakhouse Thursday night: The Andy Reid coaching tree — Reid joined by Steve Spagnuolo, Leslie Frazier, Pat Shurmur and Ron Rivera, the men who once coached on the Eagle staff under Reid and who now have NFL head jobs.
• Media credentials issued by the NFL: 715. Or approximately 690 more media than attended the combine 10 years ago.
• Still the Hotel of the City: The Conrad. The giant TVs in the rooms, comfy lobby, free rides around town in bad weather, with a wine bar on one side of the lobby and a Capitol Grille on the other, central to everything.
• Observed/heard by veteran combine-goer Len Pasquarelli Sunday morning: “Walking through the convention center this morning, there was a bunch of Cincinnati scouts, all wearing Bengals garb, passing by. One of the local Hoosiers, who was probably here for the cheerleader deal [a cheerleader competition and convention] they have here every year at combine time, spies them and says: “What are all those Bengals guys doing here? Oh, wait a minute, that columbine thing is this week.”
• Underrated Airport of America: the new one on the western outskirts of town. The locals say it’s the only new major airport built since 9/11. A couple of nice places to eat and drink in the circular waiting area/preboarding wing, with wide concourses everywhere. Unlike the old one, the security lines aren’t 50-minute jobs.
• In the lobby of Conseco Fieldhouse, the Starbucks is out and Dunkin’ Donuts in. What were you thinking, Seattle?
• “Think we’re going to get this Super Bowl in next year?” the cabbie asked me Wednesday night on the way into town from the airport. Yes, I said, but the process will be painful and angst-filled. I must have been asked a dozen times about the work stoppage and what it might mean to the city hosting the Super Bowl in 49 weeks. People here are freaked that labor situation might get this season, and the Super Bowl, canceled. Relax — for now.
And for those dreading a Super Bowl here? Don’t. It’s one of the most convenient cities in America. You’ll be able to walk everywhere outside on a decent day, and inside on the skywalks on a bad day. Good restaurants. Maybe not enough of them, but you’ll find some good meals here.
• Nothing’s more than a 15-minute walk away here.
• Never seen a Marriott complex like the new one down the street from the state capitol building, adjacent to the Indianapolis Indians’ Victory Field. Five Marriotts, led by the largest JW Marriott in the world. Want to know how this city got the Super Bowl? Not just because of the new Lucas Oil Stadium. But because of this small city of hotels, with 2,248 rooms and the largest hotel ballroom in the Midwest — 40,500 square feet. I told a few people over the weekend that when I worked in Cincinnati 30 years ago, Indianapolis was the stepchild of Cincinnati. No more, that’s for sure.