Tag: Hula Bowl

UCLA Bruins cornerback accepts invite to the Hula Bowl

The UCLA redshirt senior is Orlando-bound.

The UCLA Bruins, as a program, will not be playing in a bowl game this season. That said, several notable Bruins will be playing in college all-star games ahead of the NFL Draft.

This week, UCLA redshirt senior cornerback Bryan Addison accepted his invitation to play in the Hula Bowl. Addison, who played a total of 67 games in the NCAA for both the Bruins and Oregon Ducks, will get a shot to impress scouts from the NFL, XFL, USFL, and CFL in January of 2025.

In 2024, Addison recorded 44 tackles, one fumble recovery, and two interceptions, with one going for a pick-six against his former team, Oregon. At 6′ 5″ and a hair under 200 pounds, Addison is truly a physical specimen who proved he could compete in the Big Ten.

With above-average size and a knack for taking down ballcarriers, Addison already profiles as a potential NFL player. With another shot to showcase his skills in Orlando, Florida, at the Hula Bowl, keep an eye on Addison’s name as the NFL Draft approaches.

USC running back Austin Jones selected for Hula Bowl, follows his pro football path

Austin Jones prepares for his big pro football job audition.

Former Stanford and USC running back Austin Jones has been selected to play in the 2024 Hula Bowl in Orlando.

In his career, Jones rushed for 2,337 yards and 24 touchdowns on 4.7 yards per carry. He also added over 900 yards receiving and three touchdown catches in his five years on a college gridiron.

Jones was the second running back for USC in each of the past two seasons. In 2022, he was behind Travis Dye, the transfer from Oregon who gave so much to USC. When Dye got hurt, Jones stepped in and gained a lot more carries in the final leg of the regular season plus the Cotton Bowl game against Tulane.

In 2023, Jones was the second running back in the rotation behind MarShawn Lloyd. Once again, USC had a strong number one running back, but Jones was a productive number two. USC’s offense didn’t reach the heights it hit in 2022, but Jones still played a very important role on the Trojans and was a very good teammate. Now he moves into an environment where he will try to display his talents and make a favorable impression on all the evaluators who will be studying potential pro prospects.

With Jones participating in the Hula Bowl, he will get a chance to give pro football scouts a glimpse of what he is all about.

Scouts from several organizations will attend, including the NFL, XFL, USFL and CFL. Players in this game will also range from several countries as well, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Jones will play in the Hula Bowl on Jan. 13. The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.

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Texas A&M Cornerback Josh DeBerry is headed to the 2024 Hula Bowl

Aggie Cornerback Josh DeBerry has accepted his invite for the 2024 Hula Bowl and will head to Florida to take part in the event

It was announced on Jan. 6 that Aggie cornerback Josh DeBerry had accepted his invite to the 2024 Hula Bowl taking place in Orlando.

The game will be another opportunity to showcase his skills in front of scouts across many leagues while competing with other athletes across the globe. Below, you can find out about the game and where some of the attendees will be traveling from:

Over the past 70 years of history, the Hula Bowl has had hundreds of stories of athletes that shined in the game and thereby caught the attention of scouts from the NFL, XFL, USFL, and CFL leagues. Outstanding performances at the Hula Bowl will enhance the athlete’s opportunities for taking their football career to the next level and ensuring a promising future!

This year, the game will include NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players from Japan. In addition, the game will always include Polynesian players with historic ties to the Islands.

Here are Josh’s number after a single season at Texas A&M below and we wish him the best as he prepares for his next step.

  • 39 Tackles / 4.5 TFLs / 1 Sacks
  • 2 Interceptions / 9 PDs

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Texas A&M Safety Demani Richardson is headed to the 2024 Hula Bowl

Aggie Safety Demani Richarson has accepted his invite for the 2024 Hula Bowl and will head to Florida to take part in the event

It was announced on December 19th that Aggie Safety Demani Richardson had accepted his invite to the 2024 Hula Bowl taking place in Orlando.

The game will be another opportunity to showcase his skills in front of scouts across many leagues while competing with other athletes across the globe. Below, you can find out about the game and where some of the attendees will be travelling from:

Over the past 70 years of history, the Hula Bowl has had hundreds of stories of athletes that shined in the game and thereby caught the attention of scouts from the NFL, XFL, USFL, and CFL leagues. Outstanding performances at the Hula Bowl will enhance the athlete’s opportunities for taking their football career to the next level and ensuring a promising future!

This year, the game will include NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players from Japan. In addition, the game will always include Polynesian players with historic ties to the Islands.

Here are Demani’s career numbers below and we wish him the best as he prepares for his next step.

  • 2021 PFF All-SEC Third Team
  • 2019 SEC All-Freshman Team
  • 307 Tackles / 17 TFLs / 3.5 Sacks
  • 4 Interceptions / 18 PDs

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

Chiefs had pre-draft meeting with Washington S Alex Cook at Hula Bowl

The #Chiefs met with a former teammate of Trent McDuffie’s at the Hula Bowl.

All-star game season is upon us and we’re going to start hearing about some pre-draft meetings that the Kansas City Chiefs have held with 2023 NFL draft prospects.

The first prospect that they’ve met with is at the safety position, which could quietly be a big need for the Chiefs with Juan Thornhill and Deon Bush slated for free agency. According to the Draft Network’s Justin Melo, Kansas City is one of the 10 teams that met with Washington S Alex Cook at the Hula Bowl over the past week.

Cook also met with the Raiders, Dolphins, Titans, Ravens, Giants, Bills, Lions, Eagles and 49ers.

A teammate of the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Trent McDuffie, Cook was voted team captain in his final year at Washington and earned a Second-Team All-PAC-12 selection. The 6-foot and 195-pound Cook was recruited as a wide receiver out of high school, but he ended up making the switch to defensive back in 2019 and never looked back.

Over the past two seasons, Cook has appeared in 24 games with the Huskies, recording 128 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two passes defended and an interception. He won a number of team awards in 2022, including the Guy Flaherty Most Inspirational Award, Defensive Skill Player of the Year, the Chuck Niemi Big Hit Award, and the Starving Dawg Award.

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UGA kicker Jack Podlesny accepts invitation to Senior Bowl

Georgia football kicker Jack Podlesny has accepted an invitation to the 2023 Senior Bowl

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jack Podlesny, who has already accepted an invitation to play in the 2023 Hula Bowl, has accepted an invitation to the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Will Podlesny play in both events? It is completely feasible for the senior kicker to participate in both postseason all-star games.

The 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl will be played in Mobile, Alabama, at 2:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 4, 2023. Orlando, Florida, hosts the 2023 Hula Bowl, which will be played at noon ET on Jan. 14.

Entering the national championship, Podlesny is 25 of 30 on field goal attempts. The senior kicker is perfect on extra points throughout his career at Georgia. Podlesny has served as Georgia’s primary kicker for the last three seasons.

Podlesny was named as the 2022 SEC special teams player of the year.

Georgia Bulldogs place kicker Jack Podlesny celebrates after kicking the game-winning field goal during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Syndication: The Enquirer

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Podlesny accepting a pair of postseason invitations means that he is expected to enter the 2023 NFL draft. Georgia will likely look to Jared Zirkel to handle the kicking duties for the 2023 college football season.

Podlesny could be one of the only kickers selected in the 2023 NFL draft.

Zirkel, a redshirt sophomore, will face competition from incoming freshman Peyton Woodring, who is ranked as the No. 1 kicker in the class of 2023.

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Georgia’s Jack Podlesny accepts invitation to the Hula Bowl

UGA football kicker Jack Podlesny has accepted an invitation to the 2023 Hula Bowl

Georgia Bulldogs kicker Jack Podlesny has accepted an invitation to play in the 2023 Hula Bowl. The 2023 Hula Bowl will be played on Jan. 14 in Orlando, Florida.

Podlesny was named as the 2022 SEC special teams player of the year.

Entering the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Podlesny was 23 of 26 on field goal attempts. The senior kicker was perfect on extra points throughout his career at Georgia.

Podlesny accepting an invitation to the Hula Bowl means he is expected to enter the 2023 NFL draft. Georgia will likely look to Jared Zirkel to handle the kicking duties for the 2023 college football season.

Zirkel, a redshirt sophomore, will face competition from incoming freshman Peyton Woodring, who is ranked as the No. 1 kicker in the class of 2023.

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Texas TE Cade Brewer to play in Hula Bowl College Football All-Star Game

Cade Brewer has another chance to showcase his talents.

Another Longhorn has garnered an opportunity to showcase their skills one final time as a college football player.

Tight end/h-back Cade Brewer, who was a super senior this past year thanks to the COVID-19 extra year of eligibility, saw his career as a Longhorn come to a close and now has his sights set on the NFL. He joins Jacoby Jones an Darion Dunn as the most recent Texas players that will be playing in an all-star game.

He announced via Twitter that he will have a chance to partake in the Hula Bowl College Football All-Star Game, which will give him and many other players a chance to get in front of NFL scouts and display their talents.

Brewer concluded his five-year career at Texas with 59 catches for 611 yards and eight touchdowns. He was more known as a blocking tight end, and will have a great chance at the next level to fill a team’s role of being a blocking tight end or even a fullback type of player.

This Florida football player got an invite to the Hula Bowl

This Gator just got an invite to Orlando for the Hula Bowl All-Star Classic.

It was not exactly a spectacular season for Florida football’s defensive unit in 2021, but despite some poor overall performances, there were still some players who stood out for their outstanding efforts. Among those on this year’s Gators squad was defensive tackle Antonio Valentino, who earned an invitation to the Hula Bowl, a once-annual all-star game hosted in UCF’s Bounce House this year.

Valentino came to Florida by way of the transfer portal from Penn State last offseason, where he went by his former surname, Shelton. The 6-foot-3-inch, 312-pound redshirt senior made good use of his final year of eligibility in Gainesville, starting in eight of the 12 games he played in while amassing 23 total tackles — three of them for a loss, including a sack — along with five quarterback hurries. His presence on the defensive line was seen as “stalwart” by the Hula Bowl’s social media team.

This year’s Hula Bowl will be played on Jan. 15, 2022, at the aforementioned Bounce House in Orlando, Florida. The event dates back to 1946 when it was first established, though the inaugural game was not played until Jan. 5, 1947. Originally, the matchup featured a team comprised of college players from the continental United States against a local Hawaiian Islands team. In 1960, it morphed into a collegiate all-star game that would only invite NCAA student-athletes.

The game was played in the Hawaiian islands until 2008 when the series went dormant, then revived again in 2019 — once again in the Pacific archipelago — for a 2020 and 2021 game, before moving to Central Florida for this year’s game. According to the official website, the Hula Bowl plans on remaining in Florida for the foreseeable future, inviting NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players from Japan, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

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Michigan State football center Matt Allen to play in Hula Bowl Collegiate All-Star Game

Michigan State football center Matt Allen to play in Hula Bowl Collegiate All-Star Game

Injuries may have led to some inconsistencies down the stretch for Michigan State football’s offensive line unit, but make no mistake about it, this was one of the most productive units in college football this year and a major part of why Kenneth Walker III was in the Heisman conversation for much of the season.

A key part of that, of course, is veteran center Matt Allen. On Monday, Allen accepted an invitation to play in the Hula Bowl Collegiate All-Star Game as he looks to showcase his skills to NFL scouts.

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