NFL owners get defensive after scouting combine gets compared to ‘slave auction’ by league exec Troy Vincent

IRVING, Texas — Several NFL team owners took offense Wednesday at league meetings when NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent referred to the NFL scouting combine as having characteristics of a “slave auction,” multiple people present in the room told CBS Sports. 

Vincent spoke to ownership Wednesday morning, announcing changes to the combine that would involve a less tedious medical evaluation process and a closer look at questions teams ask of draft prospects. The combine and other pre-draft evaluations have been criticized for what some consider dehumanizing methods of getting information about players.

“We just feel like the overall experience, talking to the players, we can be better in that particular aspect,” Vincent told media later in the day. “So there was, I would say, a good discussion around what that looks like, where we could be, keeping in mind that the combine is the player’s first experience with the National Football League, and in that experience, there has to be dignity.

“It’s a great opportunity for the young men, but there has to be some form of dignity and level of dignity and respect as they go through that process. That was the overall theme around our combine [discussion.]”

Sources within the ownership meeting revealed details of what Vincent said among team owners that included the reference to a slave auction. In the meeting, Vincent’s comments drew an immediate response from Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who stood up and registered his offense, according to sources. Blank, who has a strong record on diversity and inclusion over his two decades in the NFL, took umbrage with the idea that he was either taking part…