By Dru Grigson for MontrealAlouettes.com
Laying on Waikiki Beach, in 85 degree weather (Fahrenheit!), in Januaryↆ walking the streets of Honolulu in sandals and shorts, constantly squinting because the sun is too bright…
Then imagine a typical Montreal winter morning, stepping outside and feeling like you’ve been punched in the face by the wind, wearing a coat with down feathers from at least 500 birds that makes you resemble the Michelin Man.
By the time you get to the Metro in the a.m., your Reeboks are soaked through to your socks from trudging through the snow, and your face is red and blistered.
That’s been the transition I’ve gone through over the last week after spending a week in Honolulu scouting the Hula Bowl.
The Hula Bowl is an American college All-Star game that’s been around for seven decades, and has featured many future NFL and CFL players. This game had representatives from 30 NFL teams and three CFL clubs, including ours.
The most important aspect of an All-Star game is the week of practices. It’s a chance for players to get in front of 60 to 70 scouts and display their talent against some of the best players in the NCAA.
A player who has a seventh-round or free agent grade on him going into the week, for example, can significantly raise his stock to the maybe the fourth or fifth round by flashing some skills for the scouts.
However, you have to take these games with a grain of salt. There are players present who have three or four years of fantastic game film, who have won championships, who have broken records, and already have draft-able grades who will show up, and for one week in their career, not have their “A” game.
Maybe they don’t look as fast, maybe an arm doesn’t look as strong, maybe they drop a few balls, etc. This can destroy a player and drop him out of the draft and into free agency.
I am a firm believer that an All-Star game is just another tool to evaluate a player, not a way to decide a player’s future. Combine an All-Star game with personal information, off-season workouts, game film, and then a decision can be made.
There were several players who increased, and decreased their value at the Hula Bowl. Either way, most of the players will get a shot at an NFL camp, and nothing is more important than turning it on then.
