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) |
|
2017 matchup | |
North vs. South (South 16–15) | |
2018 matchup | |
North vs. South (January 27, 2018) |
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played each January in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college 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 2007, telecast of the game moved from ESPN to the NFL Network. In 2013, Reese's took over sponsorship of the game.
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. In 2013, two players (D. J. Fluker and Justin Pugh) with a year of college football eligibility remaining, but who had already graduated, became the first "fourth-year juniors" to be granted clearance to play in the Senior Bowl.