Schramm – President and General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys (1960-1989) proposed to the NFL Competition Committee a centralization of the evaluation process.
His proposition led to the creation of the National Invitation Camp by National Scouting Inc., one of the three main scouting organizations utilized by most of the NFL franchises at the time (BLESTO and Quandra Scouting were the other two).
The NIC was first held in Tampa, Florida in 1982. There were two other prospect camps than went on for non-member NIC NFL teams for three years (1982-84). In 1985 the three camps merged, and the NIC was renamed the NFL Scouting Combine.
The player showcase was held in Arizona in 1985, then in New Orleans in 1986 (which also was the location in 1984 for the then NIC).
The Combine was relocated to Indianapolis in 1987 – and has been held there every year since.
