INDIANAPOLIS — At 1:12 a.m., my phone lit up with a text. It was one of my spies telling me the party had arrived.

“Michael Irvin and Sean Payton talking,” the message read. “It’s on.” Then, a moment later: “And the Jerry bus is here. Jerry walking in.”
I was about to head that way anyway, but this was what I needed to hear to get my ass moving. “The Jerry bus” is the infamous Dallas Cowboys party bus. “Jerry” is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. “Here” is Prime 47, a downtown steakhouse that unofficially functions as the nightlife headquarters for the NFL scouting combine. It was on.