With the 2017 NFL Combine kicking off this week in Indianapolis, USA Football is proud to have its U.S. National Team alumni participating in a week filled with workouts and drills.

In total, eight players who donned the red, white and blue will take part in the event, looking to earn a spot on NFL team draft boards.

Among that group is Rodney Adams, who played in both the International Bowl and the World Championship, and who comes to Indianapolis with another objective.

Adams will be testing with a purpose, as he seeks to raise money for Experience Camps, a program designed to provide a one-week vacation for children who recently lost a parent, primary caregiver or sibling.

The University of South Florida wide receiver hopes to raise $3,000 in donations through online pledges for each inch he flies in the vertical jump.

“It’s a difficult time for those kids being that they don’t have that parent,” Adams told SiriusXM NFL Radio, via The Sporting News. “It’s tragic. We wanted to do this cause to raise money and let them have a week of fun to forget about all the bad things that have happened.”

Adams is already 84 percent toward his goal.

Despite a superb senior season, Jourdan Lewis will still need to prove to NFL teams that his height is not a limitation.

“The height factor’s an issue,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said on a media conference call. “He turns, he runs, he does everything you want from a technique standpoint to be an elite corner in this league. The concern? First of all, there are other corners that are a little bigger. But I (saw) from week to week, (the) consistency over the last couple years…he was really up there with the top tier.”

But the 5-foot-10 Michigan cornerback, who represented the U.S. in the International Bowl in 2013, isn’t going to let his size take away from his skills.

“If you can play football, you can play football,” Lewis said to the Detroit Free Press. “And that goes for any position. If you’re technically sound and you have the skill for that position, you can go out there and play.”

For many of the National Team alumni at the Combine, the opportunity to compete for a career in the NFL seems like the culmination of the traits and behaviors they exhibited back in high school, with leadership being the common trend.

For Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine, who represented the U.S. in the 2014 International Bowl, it was about being a leader in subtle, non-vocal ways.

“He is not a crazy hype rah-rah guy,” said Chip Killian, who coached Perine at Henderson (Pflugerville, Texas). “He was always positive with his teammates and enjoyed their successes as much as his own. He was a tremendous blocker his senior year when everyone keyed on him.”

According to Killian, that blocking allowed one of Perine’s teammates to lead the team in yards per carry. It was Perine demonstrating leadership by taking a step back to allow a teammate to thrive.

In the case of former Lemont (Ill.) star tackle Ethan Pocic, it was setting an example that although he was the team’s blue-chip recruit, he was not going to be outworked.

“Being our best player, he was also our hardest worker,” his high school coach, Eric Michaelson, told USA Football.

Adams, Lewis, Perine, Pocic and the rest of the National Team alumni will look to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jameis Winston and Todd Gurley by becoming standouts in the NFL.

The first step in the U.S. National Team journey begins with Regional Development Camps, which are taking place this spring across the country. Click here to sign up for a Regional Development Camp in your area, and check out the National Team alumni to keep an eye on at the NFL Combine below:

Rodney Adams

• Position: wide receiver
• High School: Lakewood (Fla.)
• College: University of South Florida

Jourdan Lewis

• Position: cornerback
• High School: Cass Tech (Detroit)
• College: Michigan

Quincy Adeboyejo

• Position: wide reciever
• High School: Cedar Hill (Texas)
• College: Ole Miss

Shaquill Griffin

• Position: defensive back
• High School: Lakewood (Fla.)
• College: University of Central Florida

Hardy Nickerson

• Position: linebacker
• High School: Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, Calif.)
• College: University of Illinois

Ifeadi Odenigbo

• Position: defensive end/edge linebacker
• High School: Centerville (Ohio)
• College: Northwestern

Samaje Perine

• Position: running back
• High School: Hendrickson (Pflugerville, Texas)
• College: Oklahoma

Ethan Pocic

• Position: offensive lineman
• High School: Lemont (Ill.)
• College: LSU