ON AN AFTERNOON in late March, a few weeks ahead of the 2019 NFL draft, 19 football players gather inside the University of Houston's indoor practice facility, a cavernous white warehouse housing a plush turf field. Scores of family members, friends and media members are here. All 32 NFL teams are represented by coaches or scouts. Two teams even have sent their head coaches -- the Tennessee Titans' Mike Vrabel and Bill O'Brien of the Houston Texans.
They're all here to see Ed Oliver.
About an hour earlier, across the street, UH's weight room played host to the familiar -- and creepy -- sight of a group of young men (all black, save two) in their underwear being weighed and measured.