By By Matthew Nascone
Under Armour Senior Bowl week is underway, as the players and coaches began arriving last Saturday for the annual pre-NFL draft event Jan. 26 in Mobile. This game should be exciting because there will be more than 800 NFL coaches, scouts and top decision makers in Mobile for this contest.
All in attendance at the game in Ladd-Peebles Stadium will see 100 of the nation's top NFL Draft prospects compete against each other.
The rosters include such college standouts as Hawaii's Colt Brennan, Michigan's Chad Henne, USC's John David Booty, Kentucky's Andre Woodson and many other award winners and All-Americans.
It should be an interesting day of football excitement and I can't wait to go watch it all unfold. It will be especially cool to go because it is on national television via the NFL Network.
The game will pit the North against the South and the South squad will have various talents from Auburn and Alabama. Participating in the game will be tight end Cole Bennett and defensive back Patrick Lee.
The Crimson Tide will send defensive back Simeon Castille, defensive lineman Wallace Gilberry and wide receiver DJ Hall to the South squad.
I can't wait to see how these five players from the host state of Alabama do in the game. And the game is not the only thing these 100 seniors experienced during their time in Mobile. The Senior Bowl is set up to where there is a whole week devoted to the players.
This should be a good, clean, fun event to take the kids and the ticket prices are $12, $18 and $24 depending on where you want to sit. The game kicks off at 3 p.m., so there is plenty of time to tailgate and enjoy the company of your friends at the game.
During the week players have gone through many pre-draft events and they had practices and participated in many other events in the Mobile area.
One of the best parts of the Senior Bowl is the non-athletic portion of the Senior Bowl Week. The Senior Bowl is a non-profit, charity event as well as a football game.
Some years ago the Senior Bowl partnered with Food World and created the Food World-Senior Bowl Charitable Partnership, which has donated more than $4.2 million to charities along the Gulf Coast.
This is a great way for the athletes and others involved with the Senior Bowl to give back to the community that houses them for one week. I love seeing events like this pop up around sporting events. It reminds everyone that the game is not the most important aspect of the week.
There are also many other events that the City of Mobile puts on to show their support for the Senior Bowl, including a seafood jubilee at the Mobile Convention Center and the Chick-Fil-A Senior Bowl Fellowship of Christian Athletes rally at the convention center.
The players also visit the children's ward at the University of South Alabama Children's and Women's Hospital to visit with the kids. That is also a great thing to give back to the community around the Senior Bowl.
To recap, this should be a great Senior Bowl in 2008 and I am looking forward to being there for all the action.
Matthew Nascone is the sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or online at sports@atmoreadvance.com.