The college football season is now officially over, and with only four NFL teams left to play, 28 NFL teams have moved on to thinking about the NFL Draft and how to improve their roster in the offseason. NFL front offices have been scouting throughout the college football season, but now the All-Star games, Combines, and individual workouts will get underway, starting with the East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, January 17.
The Shrine Game was created in 1925 as a way to help and support families in need and raise money and awareness for Shriners Hospitals for Children, of which there are now 22 locations. The East-West Shrine Game is the longest running college All-Star Game and will be playing its 90th game this week. For the players, it is one more opportunity to represent their university and show their skills in front of a national television audience and over 300 NFL scouts and personnel. The week of practice is important for scouts as they look for any piece of information they can find to separate certain players from the pack and decide if that player is worth drafting to their franchise. The teams will be coached by former San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary and former Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn, respectively.
Games like the Shrine Game and Senior Bowl are important for NFL teams as part of their NFL Draft preparation. Drafting the right player can turn a franchise’s fortunes around, whether it is with the first overall pick, or in a later round. Coincidentally, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who play quite close to Tropicana Field, home of this year’s East-West Shrine Game hold the first pick in the NFL Draft. Though Heisman Trophy winner and first overall pick frontrunner Marcus Mariota will not be playing in this game, his presence on the Bucs or any other team can effect NFL tickets, TV viewership, and of course wins and losses.
Every year rookies who play in the Shrine Game, Senior Bowl, or other college all-star games go on to make a huge impact in the NFL, and sometimes even make the Pro Bowl in their first year. This year rookies Zack Martin (Dallas), Aaron Donald (St. Louis), and C.J. Mosley (Baltimore) will represent their teams at the Pro Bowl, being played the week before the Super Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. According to SBtickets.com, tickets to the Super Bowl cost an average of $3,342, with a get-in price of $1,633, whereas the Pro Bowl averages $196, with a low of $51.
Needless to say, a number of future NFL stars will be on display in the coming weeks at the Shrine Game, Senior Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and a variety of other games and events. They all hope to hear their name called, whether first overall, or even as Mr. Irrelevant, the final pick in the NFL Draft.
