The Growth of the NFL Combine

At 8 o'clock Saturday morning, NFL Network will begin live coverage of the league's scouting combine in Indianapolis.  Millions will be watching looking for their football fix.

Scheduled to work out for scouts on Saturday are kickers, offensive linemen and tight ends.

Up Sunday morning, will be quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers.

On Monday, it will be defensive linemen and linebackers followed Tuesday by defensive backs.

The workouts consist of recent college players running, jumping, lifting weights and catching footballs for the pleasure of NFL teams that may or may not decide to draft them and bestow upon them gobs of signing-bonus money.

All of the workouts each day are expected to last into mid-afternoon. All will be conducted under the watchful eyes of NFL coaches, scouts, personnel gurus and ... you, if you choose.

Like the April draft, it's yet another NFL event that has turned into a giant television production. The NFL believes the combine has such enough TV potential it has locked out ESPN and other broadcasters.

Any year now, we can expect the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers to be divvied up and the entire proceedings to be shifted to prime time.

Covering the combine started in 2004, less than six months after NFL Network's launch. Most of what got on the air was video-taped packages. The following year, NFL Network offered 13 live hours. This time around, plans are for 30 live hours and then lots of analysis.

It's stunning, but it just keeps growing to meet demand," said Eric Weinberger, NFL Network's executive producer. "Viewers have spoken to us and they want more."

In 2010, a record 5.2 million viewers watched a piece or all of the combine. As NFL Network adds subscribers, the number of viewers is expected to grow. Note, too, that more than 700 media credentials were issued this year. That's also a record.