Fort Scott player get chance to show skills in NFL setting

Fort Scott High School head football coach Bob Campbell (left) will see one of his players off to Foxboro, Mass., next week as lineman Brendan Blackburn will take part in the Blue-Grey National Super Combine. (Scott Nuzum/Hearld Tribune)

FORT SCOTT --Brendan Blackburn, who will be starting his junior year at Fort Scott High School in August, and his father, Lee, will be going on a long road trip next week.

Brendan was selected to participate in the Blue-Grey National Super Combine, which will be held at the New England Patriots' training complex in Foxboro, Mass., on June 9. They'll leave on Wednesday for a two-day drive and attend a banquet Friday.

Blackburn and a few other Fort Scott High players tried out for the chance to participate in the combine.

"They picked some other kids like Johnathan Stark, Marques Floyd, Straton Hunziker, to go up and compete and they evaluated us," Blackburn said. "They used your time in the 40, shuttle run, bench press and individual work. And if they thought you did well enough, they sent you on to the next level."

If Blackburn can pass the tests he'll face in Foxboro, he could be selected to play in the Blue-Grey National All Star Classic at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on January 12. The game is scheduled to be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.

A letter addressed to Blackburn informing him of his selection to the combine stated that over 200 prospects competed at the super combine last year and that 181 of them ended up signing a college football scholarship. There will be players from 36 states attending this year.

Last year, running backs Christian and Zach Smith from Pittsburg Colgan made it through the combine and were selected to play in the Blue-Grey National All Star Classic. Other Kansas players in that game included Taylan Ybarra and Briar Moore of Wellington and Brian Doffing of Conway Springs.