Senior Bowl
| Senior Bowl | |
|---|---|
| Reese's Senior Bowl | |
 | |
| Stadium | Ladd Peebles Stadium |
| Location | Mobile, Alabama |
| Previous stadiums | Gator Bowl Stadium (1950) |
| Previous locations | Jacksonville, Florida (1950) |
| Operated | 1950–present |
| Sponsors | |
Delchamps (1996–2001) Food World (2002–2006) Under Armour (2007–2011) Nike (2012–2013) Reese's (2014–present) | |
| 2016 matchup | |
| North vs. South (South 27–16) | |
| 2017 matchup | |
| North vs. South (TBA) | |
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those collegiate players who have completed their eligibility. First played in 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida, the game moved to Mobile's Ladd Peebles Stadium the next year. Produced by the non-profit Mobile Arts & Sports Association, the game is also a charitable fund-raiser benefiting various local and regional organizations with over US$5.9 million in donations over its history.
In 2013, Reese's took over sponsorship of the game. Beginning in 2007, the telecast of the game moved to the NFL Network from ESPN, and added Under Armour as its title sponsor.
Background
Two teams, representing the North and the South, are coached by select coaching staff from two NFL teams. In recent years, the coaching staffs have come from teams who finished near the bottom of the league standings, but whose coaches were not subsequently terminated.
The week-long practice that precedes the game is attended by key NFL personnel (including coaches, general managers and scouts), who oversee the players as possible prospects for pro football. At one point the Senior Bowl was the first chance its participants had to openly receive pay for participation in an athletic event. This was one reason that participation was limited to seniors whose eligibility for further participation in collegiate football had expired, and the game was also their first exposure to the slightly different professional rules. Players who wished to participate in collegiate spring sports had to avoid participation in the Senior Bowl. The significance of all of this has waned in recent years as there has been some lessening of the former strict separation of professional and amateur athletes. Athletes sometimes decline invitations to participate in the Senior Bowl, opting instead to prepare for the NFL scouting combine or their colleges' pro day.[1]
Its scheduling has varied even though since 1967 it has been traditionally set for the week before the NFL's Super Bowl (which itself is now played in February). It is usually established as the final game of the season, but for a period during the 1980s and 1990s, it was the next-to-the-last game (followed the following week by either the Hula Bowl or the now-dormant Gridiron Classic). The 2008 Senior Bowl was played as the college football season's penultimate game on January 26, followed by the Texas vs. The Nation Game February 1. The 2010 game was played on January 30.
The single-season record for number of players sent to the Senior Bowl from one school is 10 by Alabama in 1987, followed by nine sent by Auburn in 1988 and Southern California in 2008.[2]
Game results
- Winning team in bold
- Tie game denoted in italics
- All-time series: South (29–26–3); AFC (2–1)
- From 1991 to 1993 the two teams were designated "AFC" and "NFC" to distinguish where their coaching staffs were from and to stress the professional nature of the game. This was confusing to some, as the game occurred well before the NFL draft and there was no way of determining which conference the players were actually going to wind up in to start their professional careers. In 1994 this was dropped and the designations were reverted to the traditional "North vs. South" format.
- The first game in 1950 was played in Jacksonville, Florida. All subsequent games have been played in Mobile, Alabama.
Game MVPs
| Year | Name | College |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Dan Marino Terry Kinard |
Pittsburgh Clemson |
| 1984 | Walter Lewis Doug Smith |
Alabama Auburn |
| 1985 | Paul Ott Carruth | Alabama |
| 1986 | Napoleon McCallum | Navy |
| 1987 | Don Smith | Mississippi State |
| 1988 | Thurman Thomas | Oklahoma State |
| 1989 | Cleveland Gary | Miami (FL) |
| 1990 | Blair Thomas | Penn State |
| 1991 | Alvin Harper | Tennessee |
| 1992 | Tony Smith | Southern Miss |
| 1993 | Eric Hunter | Purdue |
| 1994 | Stan White | Auburn |
| 1995 | Derrick Brooks | Florida State |
| 1996 | Bobby Hoying | Ohio State |
| 1997 | Pat Barnes | California |
| 1998 | Dameyune Craig | Auburn |
| 1999 | Cade McNown | UCLA |
| 2000 | Chad Pennington | Marshall |
| 2001 | LaDainian Tomlinson | TCU |
| 2002 | Antwaan Randle El | Indiana |
| 2003 | Larry Johnson | Penn State |
| 2004 | Philip Rivers | NC State |
| 2005 | Charlie Frye | Akron |
| 2006 | Sinorice Moss | Miami (FL) |
| 2007 | Tony Hunt | Penn State |
| 2008 | Matt Forte | Tulane |
| 2009 | Pat White | West Virginia |
| 2010 | Brandon Graham | Michigan |
| 2011 | Christian Ponder | Florida State |
| 2012 | Isaiah Pead | Cincinnati |
| 2013 | EJ Manuel | Florida State |
| 2014 | Dee Ford | Auburn |
| 2015 | Ameer Abdullah | Nebraska |
50th Anniversary Senior Bowl All-Time Team
The following team was selected by fan voting:[3]
- Offense
- QB – Joe Namath, Alabama, 1965
- RB – Walter Payton, Jackson State, 1975
- RB – Bo Jackson, Auburn, 1986
- RB – Franco Harris, Penn State, 1972
- WR – Steve Largent, Tulsa, 1976
- WR – Lynn Swann, USC, 1974
- WR – Art Monk, Syracuse, 1980
- TE – Ozzie Newsome, Alabama, 1978
- OL – Gene Upshaw, Texas A&I, 1967
- OL – Jerry Kramer, Idaho, 1958
- OL – Mike Webster, Wisconsin, 1973
- OL – Randall McDaniel, Arizona State, 1988
- OL – Tom Banks, Auburn, 1970
- PK – Morten Andersen, Michigan State, 1982
- Defense
- DL – Joe Greene, North Texas State, 1969
- DL – Ed Jones, Tennessee State, 1974
- DL – Bubba Smith, Michigan State, 1967
- DL – Jack Youngblood, Florida, 1971
- LB – Lee Roy Jordan, Alabama, 1963
- LB – Ray Nitschke, Illinois, 1958
- LB – Derrick Thomas, Alabama, 1989
- LB – Ted Hendricks, Miami, 1969
- DB – Paul Krause, Iowa, 1964
- DB – Dale Carter, Tennessee, 1992
- DB – Albert Lewis, Grambling, 1983
- DB – Roger Wehrli, Missouri, 1969
Senior Bowl Hall of Fame
Established in 1987, the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame seeks to pay tribute to the many outstanding former Senior Bowl players who have made lasting contributions to the game of football. The Senior Bowl Hall of Fame also allows enshrinement to former coaches, administrators and other individuals whose efforts helped the Senior Bowl.
- 1988 – Joe Greene, Lee Roy Jordan, Steve Largent, Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Pat Sullivan, Jim Taylor, Travis Tidwell
- 1989 – Ed Jones, Ozzie Newsome, John Stallworth, Gene Upshaw, Jack Youngblood
- 1990 – Paul Brown, Tucker Frederickson, Jerry Kramer, Neil Lomax, Wellington Mara, Finley McRae, Jack Pardee, Rea Scheussler
- 1991 – Morten Andersen, James Brooks, Dave Butz, Weeb Ewbank, Doug Williams
- 1992 – Franco Harris, Mike Holovak, Sam Huff, Dan Marino, Don Shula, Pat Swilling
- 1993 – Cornelius Bennett, Bear Bryant, Ralph Jordan, Tom Landry, Marty Schottenheimer, Lynn Swann
- 1994 – Robert Brazile, Rickey Jackson, Mark Rypien, Jim Simpson
- 1995 – Bob Baumhower, Pat Dye, Bo Jackson, Gene Washington
- 1996 – James Lofton, Dick Steinberg, Kellen Winslow
- 1997 – Bob Hayes, Sterling Sharpe, Doak Walker
- 1998 – Jim McMahon, Ray Nitschke, Thurman Thomas
- 1999 – Tom Banks, Dale Carter, Paul Krause, Albert Lewis, Randall McDaniel, Art Monk, E. B. Peebles, Jr., Derrick Thomas, Roger Wehrli
- 2000 – Hanford Dixon, Brett Favre, Chuck Howley
- 2001 – William Andrews, Ron Jaworski, Eddie Robinson
- 2002 – Todd Christensen, Bert Jones, Steve McNair
- 2003 – Terry Beasley, Jeremiah Castille, Ted Hendricks
- 2004 – Derrick Brooks, Christian Okoye, Richard Todd
- 2005 – Larry Allen, Al Del Greco, Ray Perkins
- 2006 – Curtis Martin, Tony Nathan, Michael Strahan
- 2007 – E. J. Junior, Jake Plummer, Hines Ward
- 2008 – Dean Kleinschmidt, Kevin Mawae, Brian Urlacher
- 2009 – Jason Taylor, Shaun Alexander
- 2010 – Larry Johnson, Terrell Owens
- 2011 - None
- 2012 - Keith Brooking, Donovan McNabb, Dan Reeves
- 2013 - John Abraham, Sylvester Croom, Aeneas Williams
- 2014 - Bill Kolar, Torry Holt, DeMarcus Ware
See also
References
- ^ Brugler, Dane (January 14, 2015). "2015 NFL Draft: UCLA QB Brett Hundley declines Senior Bowl". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Chris Low, Former Trojans happy to be reunited with Kiffin, ESPN.com, January 22, 2008.
- ^ http://www.seniorbowl.com/2007/alltimeteam.htm