If there’s anyone who knows the etiquette of the NFL Scouting Combine, it is Rich Eisen.
As the anchor of NFL Network’s coverage of the weeklong event in Indianapolis each year, Eisen has seen it all. But this year, some beef from the College Football Playoff spilled over into Lucas Oil Stadium, and Eisen believes it went too far.
When former Miami quarterback Carson Beck came up to perform his workout, [local Hoosiers fans rained boos upon him](https://x.com/TravisSkol/status/2027859549693092216?s=20). Beck, of course, went up against Indiana in the national championship game and is now headed to the NFL.
While Beck seemingly laughed it off at first, Eisen believes Indiana fans ruined the spirit of the Combine — and could have jeopardized future fans’ access to the event.
“I love fans being in there. There’s kids who do their own hand timers. It’s great. This is not an anti-fan thing at all,” Eisen said Monday on his eponymous radio show. “But for Carson Beck to get booed during his Combine performance was absurd. And wrong. It’s just wrong. It’s also going to lead to some people saying, ‘Why do we have fans in here at all?'”
Eisen explained that the incident also illustrates why the broadcast is so quiet. The stadium is incredibly quiet while players participate in workouts and drills. Just as Eisen’s voice would carry if he spoke loudly, the boos overtook the stadium.
The stadium operations team was forced to take the camera shot of Beck off the Jumbotron. And it put a damper on a moment that was likely a proud one for Beck as he took another big step toward going pro.
“It kept happening over and over and over again to the point that, I don’t know if this was done purposefully or not, they stopped showing Beck on the big screen, when it was his turn to go through the drill,” Eisen said. “This, at the end of the day, is a kid who’s finally getting his shot. That’s what the Combine is for.”