The 99th annual East-West Shrine Bowl kicks off in Frisco on Thursday night as many NFL hopefuls hope to showcase their talents for evaluators throughout the league.
The game is one of the two most popular college football all-star games played every offseason, along with the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, that allows players to display their abilities on the field and work with NFL coaches to improve their draft stock and prove they belong at the professional level.
The East-West Shrine Bowl has been played annually since 1925 and has called many cities home. This will be the first year the game is held in Frisco after spending the last three years in Las Vegas. San Antonio and Houston have also hosted the Shrine Bowl, but it has not been played in Texas since 2009.
The game is hosted by Shriner’s Children’s Hospital, which has helped treat 1.5 million children with orthopedic conditions through pediatric specialty care and innovative research.
The state of Texas is well represented, with 13 players from colleges throughout the state participating in the game and several others who are from the state but played college football elsewhere.
That list includes Pat Tillman and Jim Thorpe Awards winner Trey Taylor, a safety from the Air Force Academy who played high school football at Frisco Lone Star High School.
“It’s really nice to be able to be around familiar places or familiar turf,” Taylor told The Dallas Express earlier this week. “It’s definitely special to be back in my hometown.”
Here are the rest of the players with Texas ties who have been in Frisco this week.
- Elijah Klein, OL, UTEP (East)
- David Ugwoegbu, LB/DL, Houston (East)
- Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Texas A&M (East- not practicing)
- Josh Cephus, WR, UTSA (West)
- Andrew Coker, OL, TCU (West)
- Willis Patrick, OL, TCU (West)
- Jonathon Brooks, RB, Texas (West- not practicing)
- J’Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas (West- not practicing)
- Jordan Miller, DL, SMU (West)
- Demani Richardson, S, Texas A&M (West)
- Tyler Owens, S, Texas Tech (West)
- Mark Perry, S, TCU (West)
- Ryan Watts, DB, Texas (West)
- Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S, Texas Tech (West)
- Tahj Washington, WR, USC (West – Marshall, TX)
- Grayson Murphy, DL, UCLA (West- Dallas, TX)
- Gabriel Murphy, DL, UCLA (West – Dallas, TX)
The 99th annual East-West Shrine Bowl kicks off at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday from the Ford Center at the Star.
