Details on the 60th Senior Bowl, taking place this week in Mobile, Ala....
WHAT YOU'RE WATCHING: The nation's most prestigious all-star game for seniors who have exhausted their college eligibility and are preparing for April's NFL Draft. The NFL is watching, too; almost every general manager and scout and many of the league's coaches spend the week in Mobile. NFL Network provides live coverage of the practice sessions all week long and will air the Senior Bowl game live Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
WHO YOU'RE WATCHING: There are 104 players participating this week, and history indicates many of them will be high-round draft choices in April. Southern California has the most players in this year's game with six, followed by four each from Alabama and Cincinnati and three each from Oklahoma, Oregon, LSU and Ole Miss. But this year's Senior Bowlers come from off-the-football-radar schools such as Cal-Poly, Richmond, Jackson State and Liberty, too.
WHEN YOU CAN WATCH: From Tuesday to Thursday, NFL Network airs the two-hour practices at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, then airs the Senior Bowl Recap Show each night at 8 p.m.
WHY THE SENIOR BOWL MATTERS: Because the best players come to learn the pro game and compete on a high level. NFL coaching staffs (this year from Jacksonville and Cincinnati) run both the North and South squads and conduct NFL-style practices and meetings throughout the week. Scouts observe each practice and have a chance to meet the players following the practices. Every invitee can play the game; this week provides the NFL a chance to get to know them better as people and competitors.
IS THE PLAYER THE BROWNS WILL PICK FIFTH OVERALL IN MOBILE THIS WEEK?: Maybe, maybe not. It's way too early to know whom the Browns will pick. But at least one player who's been selected among the top seven overall picks has played in the Senior Bowl every year since 2001. Last year, 14 players who played in the Senior Bowl were selected in the first round, and considering 14 more 2008 first-rounders were underclassmen, that's a pretty impressive ratio.
WHO ARE SOME NOTABLE SENIOR BOWL ALUMNI?: They've been playing the Senior Bowl since 1950, and there are plenty of names -- like Nitschke, Payton, Hickerson, Marino and Namath, just to name a few -- almost any football fan would recognize.
Just last year, the South team had a couple running backs, Chris Johnson and Matt Forte, many fans had never heard of. They went on to rank among the NFL's top rushers as rookies; in fact, five of the NFL's top ten rushers in 2008 are Senior Bowl alumni. Ditto the top three sack artists.
Here are some of the guys who were playing in the NFL into mid-January who came from the Senior Bowl in the last few years: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Mike Patterson, Stewart Bradley, Philip Rivers, Lamarr Woodley, Deuce Lutui, Levi Brown, Steve Breaston, Joe Flacco, Aaron Ross, Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeil, Darren Sproles, Michael Griffin and Mewelde Moore. And that's just a partial list.
Flacco and Jackson came from lower levels of college football. So did Nick Collins and Griffin, and those two each had 7 interceptions this season. Virginia Tech isn't known for its prolific passing game, but Eddie Royal lit up last year's Senior Bowl and then had a monster rookie season. And speaking of monsters, this year's six USC players are an impressive bunch, but last year the school sent nine!
Among the Senior Bowl alums on the Browns' current roster: Phil Dawson, Seth McKinney, Kamerion Wimbley, D'Qwell Jackson, Eric Steinbach, Dave Zastudil, Robaire Smith, Jerome Harrison, Lawrence Vickers, Martin Rucker, Beau Bell, Ahytba Rubin and Titus Brown.
They come in all shapes and sizes, from all different backgrounds. And if you love football and love the NFL Draft, there are many reasons to check them all out this week.
