Well at least the Bengals scouting staff is getting creative.
Check out this quote from an interview with Oklahoma OL Lane Johnson (via Deadspin):
On a strange meeting he had with the Bengals:
"One
thing caught me off guard. I was meeting with Cincinnati, and I went in
there and they told me to remember five things. They just listed five
things like a bear, a flower, a tree, a man and like a dog. And they
told me to remember those terms, at the end of the meeting to see if I
could remember them. And from that point on, they listed numbers. They
said, like, 9167, and then told me to repeat them in reverse order. So
that was probably the weirdest meeting I've ever been a part of."
NFL teams have long been known for crazy and downright bizarre questions during player interviews - so as long as it doesn't mean the Bengals draft Manti Te'o in the first round...we are good with it.
I have to admit, I love this strategy. It completely throws the "applicant" off and allows the interviewer to test the mental infrastructure (composure, competence to perform tasks, etc.) of an individual. It also prevents a player from coming in and sticking to their bullshit talking points that their agent created for them.
The biggest question I have, is whether they do this for everyone, random selection, or players of interest.
Posted by: comrade blesterov | February 28, 2013 at 01:36 PM
The coaches probably picked up this practice from the interview experience for their current job. But Mike was just making sure they wouldn't screw up his order when they have to pick up his lunch at Denny's.
Posted by: bungalfamily | February 28, 2013 at 01:39 PM
Its a concussion test.
Pretty advanced of this team, actually.
Posted by: WAK | February 28, 2013 at 07:38 PM