Home High School The NFL Legends Make The Armory Combine Complete

The NFL Legends Make The Armory Combine Complete

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The Armory Combine with NFL Legends Keith Elias, Roman Oben, and Tony Richardson: Photo Credit/Chauncey Norris

New York, NY—The Armory has been a stalwart in New York for over 100 years. It was built originally to shelter local units of the state’s volunteer militia and later the National Guard. Thereafter, The Armory became a homeless shelter which transitioned in the mid 1980’s to a famous rail built behind it’s black windows and now the center point for the city’s track fans. With the help of private contributions, The Armory became a place of competition, education, and fellowship entrenched within New York City.

The Armory is recognized as one of the fastest roadways in the world, it hosts annually over 100 track & field competitions, training more than 220,000 athletes. Its home to over 57 high school and 13 professional American records like Alan Webb’s sub-four-minute-mile in 2001, the first ever by a high school student-athlete, which was broken by Drew Hunter at The Armory in 2016.

The 220 members of the 2016 Olympic fields have also competed at The Armory and at such international competitions as the Millrose Games, Dr. Sander Invitational, New Balance Games, as well as the Public School Athletic League championships.

The Armory Combine returned July 24, 2021 for its top Tri-state high school football players, the event was a unique opportunity for those athletes to showcase their talents to college coaches ahead of the football season and the final NLI signing date of August 1st.

College football recruiters like to rely on combine style events to evaluate future recruits. Additionally, with the help and expertise of Tracking Football, Brian Hawkins, and Marc Vitticore of Prospect New York, participating athletes can be compared to players nationwide and provide live time results to college coaches and schools.

The Armory Football Combine provided this opportunity on Saturday.

2021 The Armory Combine Highlights:

Tracking Football partnered with The Armory, Prospect NYS, Athletics Westchester, and Mondo Sport USA for the annual event. More than 60 football players from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut came to The Armory in NYC to compete and showcase their talents. The Armory Combine was broadcast live nationwide on Runnerspace.com providing all players the ability to showcase their skills to coaches and scouts worldwide.

Events:

  • The Mondo Dash – 55m dash. The 40yd dash was timed en route along with splits of 10yd/20yd and each athlete’s top speed was converted to miles per hour.
  • Pro Agility (5-10-5 shuttle) with fully automatic timing (FAT).
  • Standing long jump into the sand pit.
  • 3k Medicine Ball Throw.

Here is an overview of top performers with intriguing athletic potential according to Tracking Football’s Proprietary scores. These student-athletes can now be evaluated side-by-side with anyone in the database of over 100,000 current and former High School, College, and NFL players.

Dylan Braithwaite – WR– 2023 – 5’10” / 165 Holy Trinity

    • 6.62 55M – Fastest of 60 participants at The Armory Combine
    • 9.00.75- Standing Long Jump

On film # 6 is one those outstanding ball players who has been blessed with good speed, an explosive step, and terrific instincts. He can play the slot or the wide out position. Braithwaite is a sure handed receiver who will catch anything within his frame. Every event at The Armory Combine he stood out.

4.0 Sports Media caught up with Braithwaite at the event: “I am a competitor and I’m going to go hard on every down. I can run the entire pass tree and can’t stick my foot in the dirt and go up the field. I want everybody to know my name and let the recruiters know I’m going to be ready to play on the next level.”

Dylan Braithwaite Holy Trinity HS-Photo Credit: Chauncey Norris

Conor O’Neil – QB/Ath – 2022 – 6’4” / 214 Bronxville HS

  • 6.87 55M – Top 4 of group 1 60 participants at The Armory
  • 36-08.50 Shot Put-Threw the farthest of 60 participants at The Armory Combine
  • 1 Division I offer and counting

On film # 5 He is a polished QB with great size, arm strength, and running skills. He reads coverages well, he’s dynamic when throwing the ball on the run and does a excellent job hitting receivers on the numbers. This kid is very special and he has all the intangibles of being a great QB on the next level. O’Neil is very cerebral and he is able to process information on the fly.

4.0 Sports Media caught up with O’Neil at the event: ” I came to compete and I think I’m holding my own at this combine. There is a lot talent here so that pushes me even harder. On the next level I just want to compete I don’t care what position I play whether it is QB or TE, I’m team player, just want the recruiters to know I will be ready to compete on the next level.”

Conor O’ Neil Bronxville HS-Photo Credit: Marvin Chambers

Samson Joseph – WR/DB – 2022 – 5’6” / 130 Suffern HS

  • 9-07.00 Long Jump – The best jump of 60 participants at The Armory Combine
  • 6.62 55M – Placed 2nd of 60 participants at The Armory

On film # 3 Not the biggest receiver on the field but the most electric. Joseph has great jumping ability, good speed (4.4 40), and a quick take-off. He has a wide catching radius and is an excellent downfield blocker. You’re impressed with his ability to catch the ball in traffic, the way he loves to mix it up and he has proven to be a very difficult tackle after the catch. Don’t let his diminutive size fool you, he is a difference maker.

4.0 Sports Media caught up with Joseph at the event: “I came to this combine to prove that I compete with the top talent in the tri-state. People see me and they start judging me because I’m not the biggest player but once I get on the field it is a total different thing. I’m definitely getting more serious about the weights this year, I want to be able to physically play on the next level and I will don’t count me out.”

Samson Joseph Suffern HS-Photo Credit: Marvin Chambers

Some Notables: Wilensky Nicolas LB James Madison, Dre Kirton WR Holy Trinty, Adam DeSantis DE Maine Endwell, Chief Montalvo WR The Clinton, Issac Trout WR Southlmoreland, Asim Martinez RB James Madison, Phillip Kunkel-Quesada DE Fordham Prep, Billy Daly WR Trinity Pawling.

To top off the phenomenal event, former NFL players Keith Elias (NY Giants & Indianapolis Colts), Roman Oben (NY Giants & Super Bowl XXXVII winner for Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Tony Richardson (Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets) were among the event supporters. Oben, who is currently the NFL Vice President of Football Development also joined the NFL as Director of Health & Safety in December 2014. They share the experiences of the NFL, the grind, the discipline, dedications, and expectations.

Keith Elias, Roman Oben, & Tony Richardson at The Armory-Photo Credit: Chauncey Norris

In partnership with Hudl and the NFL Legends Youth Advisory Committee, the NFL announced the extension of the “Way to Play” initiative to the high school football level, helping highlight proper playing technique to protect players from unnecessary risk and to foster an environment of change across all levels of the sport.

“NFL Way to Play” is a resource for coaches and players to use in promoting proper playing technique that aims to protect players from unnecessary risk and attain on-field excellence at all levels of the game,” said Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations. “Each week, the Way to Play Award recognizes and amplifies the excellence demonstrated by NFL players who exemplify proper technique to make impactful plays. In addition, this season, high school football players also will be recognized for using proper playing technique.”

Several NFL head coaches, current, and former players have created videos to assist in educating coaches and players. It was great to see these NFL Legends educating and parting their experiences along the way to all the high school student-athletes in attendance. But the Q & A portion of the forum will forever leave a indelible mark with these future stars.