The Oceanaire restaurant in downtown Indianapolis was a great to place to run into high-powered league executives and agents last night. We had the pleasure of sharing some tuna tartare and cobia (shark) with agent Peter Schaffer, who represents Jesse "The Bachelor" Palmer as well as some prominent current players.
Foxsports.com's Alex Marvez, who wrote a nice piece today on the use of franchise tags in the NFL, and Dallas Morning News stalwart Todd Archer and I ordered six appetizers, three cups of New England Clam Chowder and some bread. In professional journalism, this is commonly referred to as a palate cleanser.
We also bumped into 49ers executive director of football operations Lal Heneghan, who claimed to be a loyal Hashmarks reader. I fear that all this love we're receiving may cause me to change my approach and actually write about football.
On Thursday night, I dined with three of my favorite guys in the league, 49ers offensive line coach George Warhop and Seahawks special teams coach Bruce DeHaven, and LA Times NFL writer Sam Farmer, at the famous St. Elmo Steakhouse, which is home to one of the most remarkable shrimp cocktails in the nation.
When Americans think seafood, Indiana is obviously at the top of the list. Another Hashmarks regular, Sean Payton, stopped by for a quick visit, but he was 30 minutes late for dinner.
Later in the evening, we ran into legendary offensive line coach Jim Hanifan at the Marriott bar. The 74-year-old Hanifan was the head coach of the Cardinals for five years, but he's best known as one of the best offensive line coaches in league history. You could tell that Eagles offensive line coach Juan Castillo was in awe of Hanifan when he went over to say hello.
That's what I enjoy most about the combine. Coaches who are wound so tight during the season go out and drink beers, which sometimes cause them to open up a little bit more.
OK, let's return to talking about measurables now.
