Whether you chose to attend a Nike pre-combine qualifier event at Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah or a Scout.com combine/camp outing at Dade Christian, last Saturday was certainly a sign of things to come over the next few months in South Florida.

While parents, coaches and athletes try and sort out what event is best to attend, large numbers seemed to follow both events with spring football still a little bit less than two months away.

As I usually do in the offseason, I had the opportunity to split time at both events, finding out just how athletes start to get on the map without ever playing a down. While some are skeptical about the rating system that many combines use to determine the success of a football player, others have learned to roll with the punches and climb into the spotlight.

The Nike event attracted more than 400 youngsters from throughout the state. From Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville and South Florida, they came to run, get their photos taken and walk away with some pretty cool stuff. The event was a preview of this Sunday's ''real'' Nike Camp that will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the University of Miami.

I have never understood why kids drive all that way to spend a few hours with no guarantees that they will be invited back, but they do it every year in the name of getting noticed, and while football is still the name of the game, running and agility are the ticket to earning high enough numbers.

As parents continued to ask about the lack of actual football playing at this event, most understood that it was a testing event and that football would come later on. Having been around recruiting over the past 40 years, I still haven't grasped the answer when I am asked about the reason why testing has become more important than the actual football itself.

GOOD TURN OUT

But to the credit of these companies, they seem to attract the large numbers and top-name players. While some coaches still would rather the testing is done at their schools where numbers do not get released to the public, there are enough coaches who trust in the system the way it is right now.

Still, athletes such as Booker T. Washington standout Eduardo Clements, Northwestern's Todd Chandler, Corey Lemonier of Hialeah and others came out along with Ivan McCartney (Miramar), Ralph Williams (Gulliver Prep) and Ethan Grant (North Broward Prep) to run, get their photo taken and speak with recruiting websites who promote the athletes for fans to see.

While all eyes were on the big names, it was the players who get little recognition along the way is what these events benefit the most. Players like Eli Rogers of Northwestern, Manny Diaz of Hialeah-Miami Lakes, Monsignor Pace tight end/defensive end Kendall Montgomery and Dr. Krop quarterback Marlon Kelly, who is certainly one of the top rising players in the region.

Meanwhile, across town Scout.com tried to go head-to-head with the Nike, ESPN Rise, Sparq event as they also tested, but put more emphasis on the actual football drills, which took place in the afternoon. Much like they will this Sunday at the Nike event at the University of Miami.

A GOOD PROCESS

Being able to attend hundreds of spring and summer practices, my evaluation on these players comes when shoulder pads are on and tackling and blocking take place. That is how I learned to do it back in the day, and it's something that a majority of college coaches we deal with still prefer to get the information about the recruits from.

The Scout.com event rolled out players such as camp MVP Jeff Scott from Archbishop Carroll, Cardinal Gibbons quarterback Chris Rapka and receiver Shawn Corker, Gulliver quarterback Michael Strauss, Westminster Christian lineman Perry Meiklejohn, Pace quarterback Stephen Morris and American Heritage lineman/tight end Jacob Wheeler along others.

Don't forget that we are always looking to help our area recruits for the current Class of 2010, 2011 and 2012. All you have to do is send a DVD and information about the athlete to: Larry Blustein, P.O. Box 3181, Hallandale Beach, Fl. 33009.

Larry Blustein is co-host of the Miami Dolphins Gridiron Show every Thursday evening from 9-10 on WQAM (560 AM). Have a comment? E-mail lblustein@MiamiHerald.com.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@