Today is AC Giving Day! I always like to give a story, in the hope of encouraging Roos to give to Austin College. See the comments for a link to give. Today’s AC Giving Day story is about four Austin College Kangaroos and the NFL Scouting Combine.
The National Football League Scouting Combine allows teams to evaluate players on speed, skill, and strength before the league’s NFL draft. It was born in 1977 and is currently held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The 2025 NFL combine took place last week; Roo Roger Luttrell was in attendance. Roo Claude Webb Jr., owner/proprietor of the unofficial AC beer joint “The Gar Hole,” shared a picture of Roger at the Combine.
The stories from the NFL Combine are legendary. Bo Jackson’s 40-yard dash at the 1986 Combine is still talked about today. Longhorn Xavier Worthy recently ran the fastest 40 ever at the Combine last year, bringing the event back into the news. Today, the NFL combine is televised, featuring the best college athletes from places like Ohio State, Notre Dame, and the University of Texas.
Austin College is of course a small, NCAA D3 school. So, its ties with the NFL combine are probably minimal. Right? Or so you might think. But the reach of Austin College is vast, and it extends to this biggest of National Football League events. In fact, the NFL combine is the baby of one of AC’s most famous Roos.
The NFL Combine was the brainchild of Dallas Cowboys owner Tex Schramm, who envisioned a centralized event for college athletes to showcase their talent. The first NFL combines in the 1970s and 1980s were modest affairs. And Schramm had just the guy in mind to run them: Former Dallas Cowboy and Austin College Kangaroo Gene Babb.
Babb was a star on the gridiron at AC from 1953 to 1957 and played for six years in the NFL. He was a member of the first two Dallas Cowboys teams in 1960 & 1961, where he made lifelong friends on America’s team. This included Schramm, who gave the Combine administrative reins to Babb. Over the decades, Babb turned the Combine into a premier NFL event.
In 2008, the Philadelphia Daily News wrote about Babb and the Combine in Indianapolis: “There are a lot of ways to measure the incredible growth of the NFL over the last 25 years. One is the league’s annual scouting combine. ‘It’s become an event,’ said Gene Babb. As President, Babb ran the combine for the NFL for over two decades before retiring in 2005.”
A good Combine President needs good assistants, and Babb knew where to find them: his alma mater Austin College. Roger Luttrell, a Roo football veteran from the 1970s, was recruited by Babb to assist him in the 1990s and 2000s. There Luttrell, became an indispensable part of Combine administration, overseeing tasks to ensure a smooth operation. He performed his official duties without fail.
But he messed up big time on one unofficial task in 2001.
While it is not surprising that Kangaroos with great brains would run the NFL Combine, we all know that actual NCAA D3 Roo athletes wouldn’t be good enough to compete with the finest NFL proteges in the nation. Right? Or so you might think. That was true every year. Until Aaron Kernek arrived in 2001.
Aaron Kernek was an outstanding running back for Austin College football in 2000. So good in fact, that he was invited to the 2001 NFL Combine. His performance there was good enough to attract the attention of both the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants. He made the practice squad roster of the Giants in 2002.
In 2002, the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots were defending Super Bowl champions. The Patriots inaugurated a new Gilette Stadium in the first preseason game of 2002, when they hosted the New York Giants. In that game, Tom Brady saw action. So did Aaron Kernek, who was fighting for a permanent spot on the Giants roster.
But before all that, Kernek was just another athlete and NFL hopeful at the league’s 2001 Combine alongside Buckeyes, Fighting Irish, and Longhorns. And Babb was shocked to see Kernek for two reasons. One, he couldn’t believe a Kangaroo was at the NFL Combine. And two, he couldn’t believe Lutrell didn’t tell him.
Babb: “Luttrell! Get over here!”
Luttrell: “What’s up Gene?
Babb: “Kernek’s a KANGAROO??????”
Luttrell: “Yup. I forgot to mention.”
Babb: “DOGGONE IT LUTTRELL! THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THIS WILL EVER HAPPEN IN MY LIFE!”
Luttrell: “My bad Gene.”
Austin College links to the NFL Combine continue today. Jeremy Swisher, yet another outstanding Roo from AC’s pre-med program, is a sports medicine physician with UCLA. His medical team was at Indianapolis last week on behalf of the Los Angeles Chargers, assisting with player evaluations which “play a big role in the draft decision-making process.” Swisher is yet another AC / Combine tie that stretches back to Kernek, Luttrell, and Gene Babb.
Gene Babb passed in 2018. He was the Combine Director for the NFL for nearly a quarter century, overseeing its growth into the marquee event it is today. The Gene Babb Award for outstanding AC football player is named in his honor.
Aaron Kernek spent two years in the NFL, an insane achievement for a Kangaroo. At the 2001 NFL Combine, Kernek ran a 4.63 40-yard dash. While not as fast as Xavier Worthy’s blistering 2024 record of 4.21, that time is still phenomenal for a big fullback from little Austin College.
And when not visiting the NFL Combine in Indianapolis where he assisted Gene Babb, you are likely to find Roger Luttrell today at Claude Webb Jr.’s Gar Hole. I can confirm. Because I visited the Gar Hole and chatted with Roger there. Roger told me this story about Gene Babb, Aaron Kernek, and the NFL Combine. And now it’s an AC Giving Day Roo Tale.
These AC ties used to be amazing to me. Less so now, because I’ve slowly grown to expect them. The ties continue to make me proud, however, and always motivate me to give. If they do the same for you, then thank you in advance for supporting Austin College (see link in the comments) on this Giving Day in 2025.
