An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, but sometimes dividing the players by an attribute such as nationality. Selection of the players may be done by a vote of the coaches and/or news media; in professional leagues, fans may vote on some or all of the roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season. An exception is American football's NFL Pro Bowl, which occurs at the end of the season.
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Produced by the non-profit Mobile Arts & Sports Association, the game is also a charitable fund-raiser, benefiting various local and regional organizations with over US$7.8 million in donations over its history. The game is sponsored by Reese's, a brand of The Hershey Company, and is televised by the NFL Network.
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order relative to its record in the previous year, which means that the last place team is positioned first and the Super Bowl champion is last. From this position, the team can either select a player or trade its position to another team for other draft positions, a player or players, or any combination thereof. The round is complete when each team has either selected a player or traded its position in the draft. The first draft was held in 1936, and has been held every year since.
Michael Francis Sherman is an American gridiron football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 2000 to 2005. Sherman led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000 to 2004 and three divisional titles in 2002, 2003, and 2004, but never advanced past the divisional round of the playoffs. He was also the head football coach at Texas A&M University from 2008 to 2011. He has also been a coach in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins. Before he started coaching in the NFL, he served as an assistant coach at five different colleges, including Texas A&M, where he coached the offensive line for seven seasons. He is one of only a few coaches that has been a head coach at the high school, college, CFL and NFL level.
Frederick Bennett is a former gridiron football defensive back. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of South Carolina.
Lawrence Dale Isbell was an American baseball and gridiron football player. He was one of the rare players to be All-American in both baseball and in football. He was an All-American quarterback in 1951, when he guided the Baylor Bears football team to the Orange Bowl; he threw for 26 career touchdowns in college. In 1952, he was named the All-American catcher by the American Baseball Coaches Association. That season, he set a school record with a .431 average; through 2008, he still ranked second in Baylor Bears baseball annals for best single-season average, behind Mickey Sullivan. Isbell played minor league baseball for the Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers organizations. He also played five years of professional football in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a defensive back with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
DeVier Stewart Posey is an American professional gridiron football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State. He was also a member of the New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Toronto Argonauts, Baltimore Ravens, Montreal Alouettes, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Ezekwesiri "EJ" Nduka Jr. is a professional wrestler, professional IFBB bodybuilder, former professional gridiron football and arena football defensive end outside linebacker. As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his time with Major League Wrestling, where he was a former MLW World Tag Team Champion. He previously competed for WWE where he was known as Ezra Judge.
Dexter McCoil Sr. is a gridiron football coach and former safety, who is the current safties coach for the Texas State Bobcats. He played college football at Tulsa. McCoil played professionally for the Los Angeles Kiss, Edmonton Eskimos, Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Calgary Stampeders, St. Louis BattleHawks and Toronto Argonauts.
Ja'Gared Deniandruis Davis is an American gridiron football defensive end for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He won his first Grey Cup as a member of the Calgary Stampeders 106th Grey Cup championship team. He played college football at Southern Methodist University. He was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2013. Ja'Gared was officially honored with his own day in his hometown of Crockett, Texas on January 21, 2023.
The U Sports East–West Bowl is an annual preseason Canadian university football all-star game which showcases the top U Sports football prospects in the country who will be eligible for the following year's CFL Draft. The East–West Bowl is organized by the Canadian University Football Coaches Association (CUFCA) with the support of the Canadian Football League (CFL). It brings together over 90 of the top U Sports football players for a week of practices and evaluation, culminating with the annual all-star game. A national committee of U Sports head coaches selects the participants from a pool of players nominated by their respective universities. Players who are generally in their third year of eligibility are the prime candidates for nomination. Every U Sports football program is represented by a minimum of three and a maximum of four players who will be eligible for the CFL draft the following year. Each school submits a list of six players they nominate. A committee of U Sports coaches and CFL representatives review the nominations and determine who gets invited.
Ricky Collins Jr. is a Canadian football wide receiver in the Canadian Football League (CFL) who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Kilgore College, Midwestern State University, and Texas A&M University–Commerce. He was a member of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, BC Lions, and Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.
The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's goal was to "serve as an instructional league and showcase for professional football talent".
Justin Sumpter is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Kennesaw State University and attended Sandy Creek High School.
Brady Oliveira is a Canadian football running back for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). After finishing his career among the University of North Dakota's all-time leading rushers, he was drafted with the 14th overall pick in the 2019 CFL Draft, making him the first overall running back selected.
Joseph Demarius "Jody" Fortson Jr. is an American football tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Valdosta State after transferring from Erie Community College, and was signed by the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2019. Fortson was on the Chiefs practice squad for their Super Bowl LIV championship which earned him a Super Bowl ring.
Stavros Anastasios Katsantonis, nicknamed The Bakersfield Bandit, is a Canadian football defensive back for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played U Sports football for the UBC Thunderbirds. In college he developed a reputation for forcing turnovers, setting school records, as well as cracking the conference and national record books earning 20 career interceptions as well as a total of 10 forced/recovered fumbles. In his first collegiate season, he garnered national attention with six interceptions and a total of four forced and recovered fumbles in seven games. In his true freshman season, he would go on to be proven as an integral part of the 2015 Vanier Cup Champion T-Birds, and received the Bruce Coulter Award as the Vanier Cup's Defensive MVP. Katsantonis would go on to be a 3x first team All-Canadian at the safety position during his collegiate tenure.
Chukwuerika "Erik" Ezukanma is an American football wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas Tech.
Grant McDonald is a Canadian football linebacker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Edmonton Elks with the 14th overall selection in the 2021 CFL Draft. From 2018 to 2019, he played U Sports football for the University of Calgary Dinos, where he was a Vanier Cup champion in 2019. Prior to transferring to Calgary in 2018, he attended and played one season for the University of Maine Black Bears of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2017.
Christian Matthew is an American football cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Southern before transferring to Samford, and then to Valdosta State, where he was tied for fifth in the nation in pass break ups and was named first-team All-Gulf South Conference. Matthew was invited to and participated in the 2022 College Gridirion Showcase post-season all-star event.
