Image from Nbcsports.com

The NFL Scouting Combine is a lot like speed dating—appearances trump substance. Executives make snap judgments about prospects. Players are valued by physical measurements and statistics. The fastest football players are like the most attractive girls at a bar waiting to be picked up by rich suitors who will drop them without hesitation the moment they find a more attractive—or faster—replacement. When it comes to the NFL, the corporations have all the power. Not just the league and teams, but the sponsors as well.

Accepting these truths about NFL business makes adidas’s promise to sign the prospect with the best 40-yard dash time to an endorsement deal smell like a desperate grab for headlines. The news, first reported by Darren Rovell at ESPN.com, seems particularly strange considering NFL players aren’t allowed to wear adidas gear during games; rules only permit Nike and Under Armour apparel. Would sponsoring the fastest player help adidas slice into the NFL money pie? Probably not, even if that player was good. The fact that the contest is predetermined for a single skill rather than an overall body of work is dumbfounding, since speed does not guarantee ability.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

It’s rare we ever come across work from SF-based Heat that isn’t for some new game from Electronic Arts. But, considering Heat’s high level of consistency on these projects, especially for the EA Sports imprint, we really can’t imagine the agency working for any other brand, despite the fact that Heat counts AOL and the Huffington Post among its clients.

Sure, you can note the obvious similarities between this work and the decades-old “This is SportsCenter” campaign for ESPN. But, if you can take a formula that’s proven to capture the attention of sports fans and apply it to video games, why wouldn’t you?

A TV campaign for EA Sports’ newest game, NCAA Football 13, asks the question, “If you could put any Heisman Trophy winner in history on your favorite team, would you do it knowing that it would betray historic rivalries?” The dad in the above spot admits that, yes, having 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard returning kicks for Ohio State would be nice. But, Howard played for Michigan, Ohio State’s biggest rival. Therefore, this makes his son an awful traitor, and destroying his TV is just the beginning in this father eventually exiling his son to Ann Arbor for all eternity.

View credits, and watch what happens when Tim Tebow plays for Georgia and Robert Griffin III suits up for LSU after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Well, looks like one agency in particular is pretty stoked about former Baylor QB/standout Robert Griffin III getting drafted and joining up with the Washington Redskins. RP3, which is based in Bethesda, MD, counts staffers including D&G/Mendelsohn Zien alum Claudia Caplan and has worked with clients including Norfolk Southern, the National Geographic Store, the United Way and Honest Tea during its three-year existence, is for the time being, RG3.

To show you the depth of their enthusiasm for the arrival of Griffin III, the agency’s VP, account management Tiffany Bacon, who also captained the Redskins cheerleading squad at one point, goes back to her roots in the image below. We’re just wondering how Robert Griffin himself will stack up against top pick Andrew Luck and if he can help his new, dismal team rebound.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.