For 40 years, college football players hoping to be drafted by an N.F.L. team have shown off their speed, strength and personalities at the league’s most important talent evaluation — the scouting combine.
But recent changes to the event, which begins on Tuesday, the rise of pro days on college campuses and private workouts, and concerns over the inequity of the combine itself have led to a growing number of calls for the showcase to be fundamentally overhauled, even as the N.F.L. has sought to increase commercializing what many of its executives refer to as a “job interview” to become a pro.