BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
The Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL., is no typical postseason game where you’re wondering if players are going to drop out to get ready for the pros.
This is a different animal. Throughout the week, it was great not thinking about Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), just the NFL.
The practices were spirited and it was great watching players pursuing their dreams. Everyone had a story to tell and I was going after as many players I could get. Whether it’s at a podium with a bunch of media colleagues, or on the field after practice, my microphone was ready to roll.
From 1951-2020, the Senior Bowl was held at Ladd Peoples Stadium in a residential area of town. The stadium holds 40,000 for football and has field turf. It is owned and operated by the City of Mobile, AL.
On our free day, my photographer Candy Ebling and I checked out this venue which does have high school games. You could tell that the facility has some wear and tear on it.
The Senior Bowl has been moved to Hancock Whitney Stadium at the University of South Alabama. This venue holds 25,450 and it’s a beautiful facility.
The Senior Bowl, which is now sponsored by Panini made the right call with the upgraded amenities and additional training facilities in the event of inclement weather conditions.
The Senior Bowl is about players making favorable impressions to their coaches, scouts and all the important decision makers that will determine if they call get paid to play professional football.
With this being my first Senior Bowl Experience I met a few media people that gave me the best advice on how to cover the event.
The Wednesday Media Day was organized and the players had assigned tables. No problem.
The post-practice was like seek to see who you will find. You can get a good interview or a couple mini interviews because we only had 10 minutes and once our time expired, security would escort everyone off the field. It was like speed dating and take what you can get.
The best parent about this project is that I have enough content that will get me through the NFL Draft which is at the end of April. All the videos will be on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.
Here is a sample size of the soundbites that you can look forward to seeing on the You Tube Channel and the football podcasts.
At the podium, Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt), Garrett Nussmeirer (LSU) were the big name quarterbacks. Alabama tight end Joshua Cuevas, and outside linebacker Jude Bowry from Boston College had some great insights.
Since we’re from South Florida, we landed two Miami Hurricanes, with offensive tackle Markel Bell and center James Brockermeyer. Running back Kejon Owens played for Florida International University. FIU produced TY Hilton and current Canes head coach Mario Cristobal.
One player who had no travel expenses to make the Senior Bowl was South Alabama wide receiver Devin Voisin, who was wearing his helmet when we were talking.
I always try to target Big Ten players and landed Rayshaun Benny (Michigan) Nick Singleton (Penn State) , Jakobi Lane (USC), Vinny Anthony II (Wisconsin), Bryce Boettcher (Oregon).
Other names worth mentioning include: Keylon Rutledge (Georgia Tech), Cole Payton (North Dakota State), Adam Randall (Clemson).
The road to the NFL begins with the Senior Bowl, continues with the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Pro Days by each school and culminating with the NFL Draft which will take place in Pittsburgh.
During the week, we dealt with colder temperatures and the Arctic blast continued on game day as the temperature is 34 degrees and it feels like it feels like 21. In 1985, the temperature was 40 degrees.
We’ll see what players will shine and ultimately become contributors or perhaps impact players that could even reach the Super Bowl. These videos on the You Tube Channel will take you behind the personality of the player and what they experience at the Senior Bowl.
This game has higher stakes, a far cry from those bowl games that you’re going to see primarily in December because of what’s on the line. These players aren’t going into the transfer portal.
It was nice to take a break from that this week because it was all about the NFL Dream.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can follow him on X @TribuneSouth and see his broadcasts on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.
He wrote a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which you can purchase on Amazon/Kindle, Barnes and Noble. The Audio Book is also available.
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