12 Most Memorable Moments from the NFL Combine

Mike Mamula becomes original Combine warrior (1995)

By the 1990s, the NFL Combine had begun to gain importance among college players hoping to make it to the pros and among college studs hoping to increase their first paydays. The event has always been something of an enigma, testing players on skills that are only peripherally relevant to the actual game of football. For most of the event’s first decade, players had never put as much stock into the drills as they do now.

Mike Mamula changed that equation entirely and helped vault the NFL Combine to a new level of importance on both an individual and an institutional level. Mamula, who had been a versatile edge rusher at Boston College, came to the NFL with experience as both a 3-4 outside linebacker and a 4-3 defensive end. Yet he was projected to be a second- or third-round pick before he arrived in Indianapolis for the Combine.

A monster performance in Indiana changed the narrative on Mamula. Having prepared for months ahead of the event, Mamula wowed the scouts with his 4.58 time in the 40, a vertical leap of 38.5 inches, and 28 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press. The impressive performance led the Philadelphia Eagles to take Mamula seventh overall in the 1995 NFL Draft, and he had an impressive start to a career that was ultimately undone by injuries.