There was no NFL Combine this year, no opportunity for football’s top prospects to stand shoulder to shoulder in showcase workouts. And yet, even without any plans to stage its signature pre-draft event, the NFL still released a list of 323 players from 100 schools who would have received invitations in the mail — a nod to those who missed a chance to participate in one of the league’s rites of passage.
Simply seeing his name on that list was enough to make former Indiana receiver Whop Philyor cry.
“I was just so happy,” Philyor said. “All my work paid off.