Life At The NFL Combine

While killing time between offensive line groups, Kirchner reflects on the fateful combine 18 years earlier that helped him launch a successful career in the NFL.

Kirchner was a prolific quarterback in high school at Fulda High School, which is located about 170 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Berry really wants it to be known that Kirchner was a more accomplished Minnesota high school quarterback than eventual Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, throwing “more career completions… No wait, more touchdowns… Or was it a higher completion percentage… Just get this in the story: better high school career than Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke.”

Regardless, Kirchner took his talents to St. John’s University, and knowing that the NFL wasn’t in his future as a player, he explored the possibility to get into scouting, either in football or another sport.

Starting his freshman year at St. John’s Kirchner started writing letters, more than 30 a month, to NFL scouts and coaches, never asking for a job, but rather for career advice, always with a little flattery included. During his senior year, Kirchner decided it was time to aim for some face-to-face meetings, so he hopped in his 1991 Ford Tempo and made the 10-hour drive from St. John’s to Indianapolis, uninvited but undeterred. Before he left, Kirchner scored a pile of media guides from a friend in the Minnesota Vikings’ PR department so he could put faces to the names of scouts he had been writing—these were the early days of the internet and pictures of scouts weren’t easy to come by.

While stopped at a toll booth in Chicago, the Tempo briefly died, nearly killing Kirchner’s combine dreams with it, but after quick prayer, the car started and he was on his way. While credentials are required to get into Lucas Oil Stadium and before that the RCA Dome, as well as parts of the attached Indiana Convention Center, the public can get into some areas of the convention center. After studying the lay of the land, Kirchner discovered a bathroom outside of the credentialed area that was frequented by scouts and coaches, so he set up near there, though he insists not too close—”I was like 50 feet away. It’s not like I was staking out the bathroom,” he said.

There Kirchner became friendly with a security guard named Brian Carlson. He remembers Carlson’s name, because the two stayed in touch for years until Carlson’s email address stopped working. Eventually, Kirchner recognized Marc Trestman, then the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and a fellow Minnesota native, and introduced himself.

Trestman, who is now the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts, was impressed with the initiative taken by a college senior, and didn’t just offer some words of encouragement, but also a credential. Nearly two decades have blurred memories somewhat, but for some reason Trestman was able to get the credential of John Shoop, an assistant with the Bears at the time with whom he was friends, and lend it to Kirchner under the condition that it was back at the hotel the next morning.

“He stopped me at the escalator, told me a little bit about himself, he had driven from Minnesota, I think St. Cloud,” Trestman said in a phone interview. “He asked if I could help in any way, he was trying to get into the combine, of course. I just so happened to have an extra credential, so I gave it to him. He got inside, and he really took care of the rest.”

Credential in hand, Kirchner, AKA, “Shoop” went to enter the combine, which meant walking past Carlson, who at this point knew Kirchner’s name and story. Rather than stop someone trying to enter with another person’s credential, Carlson winked at Kirchner and said, “I’m happy for you, man.”