There very nearly was no ‘Ed’s excellent adventure to Indianapolis’ this year. After traveling to the NFL Scouting Combine the past six years I was not going to make the trek this time around.

My bosses won’t like me mentioning this, but the annual trip to the Combine is a personal choice in an effort to do my job better and not a paid business trip. It’s an out-of-pocket expense.

I was going to stay home this year. But, isn’t there always a but? SB Nation’s Associate Director for NFL Team Brands Jeanna Kelley worked some magic and got a small group of us an AirBnb — even if it was 2 miles from the Indiana Convention Center and not the less than two-tenths of a mile I am used to walking from an Indianapolis hotel each morning when at the Combine.

That, plus making the 12-hour drive from upstate New York rather than paying for a flight significantly reduced the cost and made the trip feasible. Even with an overnight stop at a cheap motel to split the trip in half.

Sunday, Feb. 23

I am a coffee addict. No denying it, no working around it. My Sunday night stay en route to Indy was at an inexpensive motel without in-room coffee makers, which necessitated bringing a small, portable coffee maker and my own coffee. Except somebody forgot to pack any Splenda or coffee creamer. I had to scramble on Monday morning for the fixin’s. Oh, well. Best-laid plans!

Somebody at home was apparently missing me Sunday night.

That is a photo my wife sent me from Sunday night of two very confused cats who sleep on my side of the bed — but only when I’m in it.

Monday, Feb. 24

As it always does, my 64-year-old bladder awakened me around 4:15 a.m. No biggie. I ALWAYS go back to sleep for a couple more hours. Except, of course, for today. When I have 490 miles of driving ahead of me. Fun times!

Despite the lack of sleep, I made the drive successfully, and without a nap. The lack of a nap is an accomplishment. You will understand when you get to be 64 — if you aren’t there already.

One thing I discovered about driving is that it actually makes souvenir shopping easier. I have complained for years about an inability to find souvenirs for the grand kids in downtown Indy. The airport has been the only place I have had any luck.

Well, since I had some time on Monday when I arrived I was actually able to find two souvenir shops I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to walk to. So, that chore is done for the week.

After six trips to the Combine during which I have stayed within sight of Lucas Oil Sradium each time, I know my way around from there.

I discovered Monday night that even with Google Maps trying to direct me, I had no idea where I was going from the BatesHendricks neighborhood where we were staying. I figured I could walk the 2 miles to get to Harry & Izzy’s for dinner.

I never got there. Don’t ask me how I wound up wandering past the Gainbridge FieldHouse, which is where the Pacers were playing and not near Harry & Izzy’s. I ended up at Kilroy’s, a place I like and have been to many times, but I still don’t know how I ended up there instead of at Harry & Izzy’s. And, yes, I was completely sober.

One more thing about the grand kids. My wife and I (well, mostly my wife) host a thing we have come to call ‘cousin Monday’ at our house after school ends on Mondays. I guess I missed the grand kids putting on quite the show Monday:

I’m in Indianapolis for the Combine. Apparently, I missed quite the show from the grand kids at my house today.

— Ed Valentine (@edvalentine.bsky.social) 2025-02-25T02:56:24.021Z

Tuesday, Feb. 25

Joe Schoen Day.

I spent some time before heading to the Combine and then again early Tuesday morning prepping a list of questions for the Giants’ GM. The list of what I thought Schoen needed to be asked filled roughly four pages in my reporter’s notebook.

On my way from the media room to the interview room I crossed paths with Giants scout Hannah Burnett. We both got a good laugh out of the length of my list because we both knew the only questions anyone really cared about were the ones regarding Matthew Stafford.

Hannah did ask me to “go easy on Joe.”

Sorry, Hannah, but as a group I don’t think we did that at all.

The only other noteworthy thing about Tuesday was that I finally made it to Harry & Izzy’s. This time, I had an Uber take me there.

Wednesday, Feb. 26

The 16-Bit Bar + Arcade.

That was definitely not on my Bingo card for the week in Indianapolis, but that is where I found myself for 90 minutes or so on Wednesday night.

There were a dozen or so representatives of SB Nation covering the Combine. Jeanna Kelley (The Falcoholic), Pete Sweeney (Arrowhead Pride), Jeremy Reisman (Pride of Detroit), Jared Mueller (Dawgs By Nature) and I were among a group of mostly SB Nation folks who decided to hit the town for dinner Wednesday night.

We chose Fogo De Chao, the Brazilian Steakhouse, partially because it is fantastic and partially because we could not get into the iconic St. Elmo’s Steak House. If you love a variety of steak, pork, chicken, and lamb and have never tried a Brazilian steakhouse, it should be a bucket list item.

The arcade was our next stop, where I discovered that several of our crew fancy themselves to be ‘Cornhole’ superstars. And where Sweeney, Reisman and Mueller got absorbed into a deep game of ‘NFL Blitz.’

My final stop on Wednesday night was with Mike Tanier of the ‘Too Deep Zone’ substack. We were the old guys of the crew. When we tired of the arcade, we walked over to ‘Prime,’ a popular restaurant/bar where coaches, scouts, front office personnel are known to hang out.

That was a wash — a very crowded, noisy wash — except for bumping into Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Asked him how his week was going and Bowen said he missed his two young children. See, coaches are people, too.

Thursday, Feb. 27

I try to find at least one unique, informative, exclusive story each year while I am at the Combine. For the last few years that has been a 1-on-1 interview with Chris Simms. This year, Simms never made himself available when I was meandering around the interview room. Why were ya hiding from me, Chris?

No matter. I found something else I believe you guys enjoyed.

Wandering around the room on Thursday while waiting for tight ends to speak, I spotted Greg Cosell of NFL Films. He and I had never met, but when he was alone for a second I introduced myself and asked if we could talk Giants and quarterbacks for a couple minutes.

“Sure, we can do that,” he said.

And we did.

Day made. Box checked. The funny part was that after our three-minute interview I kept running into Cosell. While talking to Madelyn Burke from the Giants, Cosell walked up. While I was in the JW Marriott a while later, Cosell walked by. More on the JW a bit later.

I have to be honest about something. It is cool to talk to these prospects in their podium sessions. Most of those stories, though, don’t move the needle. The conversations aren’t exactly deep.

I really wasn’t all that fired up about talking to the tight ends Thursday morning. So, I didn’t. But, I did decide to hand out a couple of arbitrary awards.

Best Combine porn ‘stache

That goes to Robbie Ouzts of Alabama.

Best Combine hair (maybe beard, too)

That goes to Gavin Bartholomew of Pitt. For what it’s worth, when I wandered past Bartholomew’s podium, he was discussing mullet care.

Now, back to the JW Marriott

All the stuff with players happens at either the Indiana Convention Center, where media interviews are held and the media workroom is, or in Lucas Oil Stadium.

The real nerve center of the Combine, though, is the JW Marriott, its ‘High Velocity’ bar/restaurant and its upstairs ‘Starbucks.’

I have made the trek to ‘High Velocity’ at night a number of times. I am not, though, enough of a night owl to be out until 2 or 3 a.m. So, those treks are fun but not really useful.

This year, I decided to check out the JW during the daytime. That is where most of the teams, though not the Giants, and many of the media members from the national outlets stay.

I did lunch at Connor’s, the restaurant in the Marriott across the street where the Giants actually stay. Saw former Giants and current Kansas City Chiefs defensive backs coach Dave Merritt and a host of familiar reporter faces — Dan Duggan, Dan Graziano, Ryan Dunleavy, Pat Leonard, Connor Hughes. What did I eat, you ask? An awesome plate of smoked chicken wings covered in dry rub.

Then, Jeanna Kelley and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon just people watching in the JW.

Saw Archie Manning shuffling, and I do mean shuffling, around the lobby nibbling on what I think was a bag of chips. Why was Archie at the Combine, anyway?

Went upstairs to the infamous ‘Starbucks,’ scene of the Jordan Schultz-Ian Rapoport tete-a-tete. No crime scene tape. No physical evidence. But, saw lots of reporters, agents and other NFL types milling about. Met Mina Kimes, my ‘Bluesky’ hero. Chatted up an agent I have known for a while.

Why haven’t I done the JW daytime thing before? I am most definitely going to make it a regular occurrence from now on.

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Friday, Feb. 28

I really would have liked to listen to the quarterbacks speak to media on Friday morning. The brutal truth, though, is that I wanted to go home even more. To that point, I decided to skip the idea of an overnight hotel stay to split the trip home and do the entire 790-mile, 12-hour trip in one shot.

That meant leaving at 8:30 a.m., before Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders were set to step to the podium at 9 a.m. No chance I was hanging around for that, leaving Indy around 1 p.m. and driving until the early morning hours to get home.

I ended the day proud of my NASCAR crew chief skills. I filled my tank with gas as I left Indianapolis, then strateically plotted one necessary mid-trip fill-up of my 2014 Honda Pilot, thinking if I did it right I’d have just enough fuel to get home. I waited almost as long as I possibly could before filling up, squeezing more than 400 miles out of one tank. I re-filled the tank just a couple miles from home, with the odometer telling me I had all of 16 miles worth of fuel remaining. Perfect! I made it to the finish line without running out of gas! Anybody need a crew chief?

I even got home in time for ‘Fire Country,’ our Friday night show.

The cats, incidentally, were as happy (happier?) to see me as my wife was.