Richmond DE Added to Senior Bowl

[smallcollegefbfan]

Lawrence Sidbury has been added to the Senior Bowl on the South roster.

[Hoyadestroya85]

Everything that I'm reading about Sidbury is that he's just a special talent.. How do you replace that kind of production, not to mention losing Sherman Logan

[foghorn]

Lawrence Sidbury has been added to the Senior Bowl on the South roster.
Great for Sidbury. Watching Flacco's journey last year through the various post season games, it seems to me that the Senior Bowl attracted the most players to get drafted. Sidbury's pretty much a cinch now to get drafted, and on the first day! xthumbsupx

[Hoyadestroya85]

The senior bowl is without a doubt the marquee game, the shrine game was just awful this year.. i think that some bowl game is gonna have to start inviting 4th year juniors to keep up.

[smallcollegefbfan]

Great for Sidbury. Watching Flacco's journey last year through the various post season games, it seems to me that the Senior Bowl attracted the most players to get drafted. Sidbury's pretty much a cinch now to get drafted, and on the first day! xthumbsupx

One thing to remember about the Senior Bowl is that because agents push players there and the NFL coaches it and pours money in it that it is assumed to be the best game and therefore they attract the better players. It is a first class show and really is the premier draft event but the other two games are well done and not anything to put down. I can tell you right now that the Shrine and TVN games have invited most of those Senior Bowl players but saw them decline for the Senior Bowl.

I'm not trying to rain on Sidbury's parade because he is a great player and will get drafted for sure after a good showing at the Shrine, SB, and a combine invite but not sure he goes in the first day. The first day is now the 1st and 2nd round, so that makes it much tougher. Also he is a great pass rusher but tends to take plays off and I don't know if NFL GMs and coaches will fall in love with that. My guess would be 3rd or 4th round, which is still good but not technically the first day. If Sidbury had the motor and effort that Peach and Belcher have, then he would have won the Buchanan Award and perhaps would be a second round player.

[Retro]

Long before the NFL Network and Under Armour came along, the Senior Bowl was quietly the best post season all star game and still is.. The NFL scouts knew it and the players invited are usually the top at their positions if they accept the invite. Up until a few years ago, the players actually got paid and it was the first time they were allowed to as football players... That was a drawing point for some..
I've been to almost 20 senior bowls since the late 70's and it's great because of the fact you get not only the best, but seniors, guys who have paid their dues and are usually fundamentally sound. It's always a sellout, lots of fan friendly events and a nice stadium to boot.

What hurts the other all star games is lack of structure among players picked and the quality overall.. Instead of competing with the senior bowl for players in some cases, the east/west and others should develop a system to look for the overlooked players from the FCS and include the top juniors, who can't participate in the senior bowl. Not just players from big name schools, who were basically backups?

Besides that, they don't market their games as well...Mobile has always done an outstanding job in that department.

[smallcollegefbfan]

Long before the NFL Network and Under Armour came along, the Senior Bowl was quietly the best post season all star game and still is.. The NFL scouts knew it and the players invited are usually the top at their positions if they accept the invite. Up until a few years ago, the players actually got paid and it was the first time they were allowed to as football players... That was a drawing point for some..
I've been to almost 20 senior bowls since the late 70's and it's great because of the fact you get not only the best, but seniors, guys who have paid their dues and are usually fundamentally sound. It's always a sellout, lots of fan friendly events and a nice stadium to boot.

What hurts the other all star games is lack of structure among players picked and the quality overall.. Instead of competing with the senior bowl for players in some cases, the east/west and others should develop a system to look for the overlooked players from the FCS and include the top juniors, who can't participate in the senior bowl. Not just players from big name schools, who were basically backups?

Besides that, they don't market their games as well...Mobile has always done an outstanding job in that department.

Yes, the Senior Bowl has been the best and having the NFL financially back it and provide coaches also helps as the game itself doesn't have to bear the financial burden others do and it will never have to worry about folding. The Texas vs. the Nation is now in a somewhat similar situation with the state and Western Refining backing it for the next 10 yrs. I expect it to cement itself as a similar event to the Senior Bowl. One thing they do that the Senior Bowl doesn't even do is that the winning team gets a ring. That would be something cool for any player to walk away with a ring. Could you imagine if Sidbury had played in all 3 bowl games and had a ring from both the NC and an all-star game?

Other all-star games would invite juniors if they were allowed to. Shonn Greene, Matthews Stafford, etc. are not allowed to play by NFL rules, or else they would be, trust me.

[Retro]

The NFL has never provided financial support for the senior bowl. The senior bowl relies on sponsors and ticket sales.. The NFL has always provided the coaches, but that is about it until recently when the NFL network got on board.. Before that ESPN broadcast it and then before that it was CBS who did so.. For years the game was sponsored by regional companies like Delchamps or Food World along with many other smaller sponsors... The NFL has little to do with financially. They have paid their dues and did struggle attendance wise in some years, but overcame it.

[smallcollegefbfan]

The NFL has never provided financial support for the senior bowl. The senior bowl relies on sponsors and ticket sales.. The NFL has always provided the coaches, but that is about it until recently when the NFL network got on board.. Before that ESPN broadcast it and then before that it was CBS who did so.. For years the game was sponsored by regional companies like Delchamps or Food World along with many other smaller sponsors... The NFL has little to do with financially. They have paid their dues and did struggle attendance wise in some years, but overcame it.

The NFL has put money and other resources into the game in the past. Everyone in the know around the NFL has told me that they put money in it when it struggled, to help it stay alive, but, has not put money in recently due to the sponsors they have. Now they have provided coaches, TV, and several other things to help the game. The Senior Bowl is the only game they do that for. Now that Under Armour has got involved the NFL has not put the money in like they have in the past and it really has given them their first big time name sponsor who has tons of money to pour into the game.

The Senior Bowl obviously lets some players slip away who go in the top 3 rounds that end up in the Texas vs. the Nation or Shrine Game but they do a solid job. I would say 5-10 players a year slip to the other two games that go in the top 100 but overall the Senior Bowl does a great job of picking the top talent. After all, no game can be perfect. There will be late round picks who were not invited to any game. The games are getting better overall and with the addition of 1-2 possible new bowls next year, we should find that 99 percent of those who make it or get drafted are in a game.

[Retro]

Josh, I know you like to feel like your "in the know" as far as covering anything to do with NFL prospects from the FCS and such, but please don't argue with me about the Senior Bowl's history.. xcoolx

I have been around that game since i was a little kid.. I was going to the game before you were born and i know how the game has developed over the years. Growing up in that area i saw all the stories in the paper about the game and the changes made throughout the years. I've been on the field before the game taking photos and at pre-game events during the week thanks to family ties to one of the local sponsors.. I've got 30 different programs from various years and even the 1st one, which was actually held in jacksonville, fl. I think i know what i'm talking about!xrolleyesx

Try attending the game first!xnonox

[smallcollegefbfan]

Josh, I know you like to feel like your "in the know" as far as covering anything to do with NFL prospects from the FCS and such, but please don't argue with me about the Senior Bowl's history.. xcoolx

I have been around that game since i was a little kid.. I was going to the game before you were born and i know how the game has developed over the years. Growing up in that area i saw all the stories in the paper about the game and the changes made throughout the years. I've been on the field before the game taking photos and at pre-game events during the week thanks to family ties to one of the local sponsors.. I've got 30 different programs from various years and even the 1st one, which was actually held in jacksonville, fl. I think i know what i'm talking about!xrolleyesx

Try attending the game first!xnonox

I am sure you do. All I am saying is that I know that the NFL has helped it out before when there were some rocky times going on. They provide coaches and put it on TV and some other things that as you are fully aware, have helped them make money and save them money, in other words they have put money in the pocket of the Senior Bowl and not done those things for the other games.

If not for the NFL helping the game out it might have folded at one point.

And on your point about juniors. The NFL does not allow juniors to participate in college all-star games, they are for seniors only. That has been known for years and is something that will never change as a reward for players staying in school.

I am not attacking you as many don't know that but those who know this process and these games do. Trust me when I say that Crabtree, Greene, Stafford, Britt, Smith, etc. would all have invites because I know that the other two bowl games would take them for sure. Not sure many of them would play though as they would probably do what many of the top seniors often do and not even play in a bowl game. The Senior Bowl had about 8-10 likely top 20 picks back out and decide not to play because they felt they had nothing to prove such as players like Eugene Monroe, Aaron Curry, etc. and some others who had injuries like Louis Murphy.