The Senior Bowl Experience

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MOBLIE - No sleep, a 2 a.m. departure and a five and a half hour drive. What would make two writers such as ourselves endure such "horrors"? Two words: Senior Bowl.

Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, AL is the site of this annual event that showcases some of the brightest stars and most valuable "commodities" in the 2012 NFL Draft. Such players as Brad Smelley, who is but one of the four players representing the reigning 2011 National Champions, The Alabama Crimson Tide and the only quarterback in FBS history to win 50 games in his career, Boise State's own Kellen Moore.

"It has been a great experience," the stand-out tight end, Smelley said after a no pads indoor practice Thursday afternoon.

Strong winds and torrential rains forced practice inside the Mobile Convention Center but wet weather did little to dampen player spirits as they went through plays and cut up with each other such as Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden picking up a pass rusher after completing the play.

"It has been a real pleasure getting to play with these guys" Smelley said of his South team.

When Smelley was asked about the differences and similarities between Washington Redskins and South team head coach Mike Shanahan and University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban he had this to say.

"I would have to spend more than a week with coach (Mike) Shananhan to notice any differences but they are both similar in the fact that they both run high intensity practices and like to shuffle people around," he said. "They know what they to accomplish and what they want from you."

The South team worked on running a number of various plays from deep passes to underneath routes. Reverses to smash-mouth up the middle runs and capped the two hour and 15 minute practice with some special teams work.

Friday consisted of a final walk through before Saturday's game.

The North team took the field first, led by Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, with a fast paced, in-and-out type style that switched players up frequently.

Kellen Moore looked ready to play as the fluidity of his throwing motion and executions of the plays were spot on. He said the practices have been brief but added that the preparation that all the players had coming out of college has allowed them to pick up on the coaching schemes rather quickly.

"It has been great learning from the Vikings coaches. You learn a great bit in such a short time period," Moore stated. "I feel like all three of us (quarterbacks) were pretty well prepared coming out of our college. It is just learning the terminology and things like that."

Next the South took the field and coach Mike Shanahan took his players through multiple plays and drills and used the entire hour and a half time frame allotted for practice.

"You get players at this stage of their careers, ready for the NFL, you get to see how close they are," coach Shanahan said.

After a 25 year layoff, Coach Shanahan has returned to the Mobile gridiron to give a boost to the players. Over that span many things have changed in how coaches are chosen for the Senior Bowl.

"The last time I coached a team was in '86, so I have coached a Senior Bowl before. You never want to be in the position (of having the worst record) but they have changed it up," he said. "It's not always the team with the poorest record. Sometimes it's the team with the best record that is closest to going to the playoffs that will receive the invitation, but we asked to coach it. It gives you a little bit of insight to the players."

"You gotta take a look at history," he said in reference to the talent at the Senior Bowl. "The last year 83 players were drafted and every player who was in the Senior Bowl was on a NFL roster. It speaks volumes about the talent they bring in here."

Friday was a busy day after the walk through as the players participated in the Coke-a-Cola Meet and Greet. Stay connected to CullmanSense for more on this.

The festivities come to conclusion with the 2012 Senior Bowl with kick-off slated for 3 p.m. The game is televised nationally by the NFL Network. Be sure to tune in to catch a glimpse of the future of the National Football League.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more on these events including sides of the players rarely seen and full coverage and photos of the 2012 Senior Bowl game on cullmansense.com.

Josh McBrayer may be reached at joshmcbrayer@cullmansense.com

Editor's note: Special thanks to all the staff at the 2012 Senior Bowl for their welcoming accommodations and willingness to help secure the best information possible in a timely manner. It is greatly appreciated.