The NFL Players Association will stage an exhibition game for draft-eligible players at Los Angeles' Home Depot Center on Jan. 21. Some 100 players will divide into teams coached by Super Bowl winners Tom Flores and Dick Vermeil.
"The NFL Players Association wants this to be more than just a game, they want it to be a NFL educational experience," Vermeil said, via ESPN Los Angeles. "This will be these players’ first introduction to the National Football League without the pressure of making a team in training camp. By the time they are drafted and go to training camp they will have an understanding of what’s expected of them, having worked with NFL coaches and players for a week. There won’t be anything like this."
The week prior to the game (dubbed the AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl) will feature practices with NFL players who will counsel the younger men on what to expect in the NFL.
The NFLPA game will be open to underclassmen who make themselves available to the draft.
NFLPA assistant executive director Clark Gaines also told ESPNLosAngeles.com that tickets for the game will go on sale this week and will start at $15.
It will be a rematch of sorts for Flores and Vermeil. Flores coached the Oakland Raiders to victory over Vermeil's Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV on Jan. 25, 1981.