Dec. 22, 2010 – The 17 inches of snow in Minneapolis and the change of venue from the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome combined to make for an interesting football experience for five Concordia University Chicago football players.

            
In this case, however, the football game affected was not the NFL’s Monday night Bears-Vikings game but the 2010 All-American Bowl. Cougar players Khyree Copeland (Jacksonville, FL/Potter’s House Academy), Mike Egebrecht (Wheeling, IL/Buffalo Grove), Mike Marotta (Brookfield, IL/Riverside-Brookfield), Mason Thompson (Ocala, FL/Vanguard) and Curtis Underwood (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Pope John Paul II) all overcame the unusual circumstances to compete in this year’s game that annually honors top senior players from NCAA Divisions II and III as well as semi-pro players

            
All five Cougars played together on the “Stars” team in the second of two games played Dec. 18 at the University of Minnesota’s indoor venue, the Gibson/Nagurski Football Practice Facility. While official stats were not available, Marotta threw about a dozen passes while Egebrecht caught two balls for 22 yards and added a pair of punt returns for 15 yards. Copeland ran the ball a few times including a long gain of 16 yards. While most of the offensive players were part of a rotation due to the depth at some positions, offensive lineman Thompson played the entire game at his left guard position.

             
The experience was very well-received by the Cougar players. Marotta called the event “a lot of fun” and enjoyed getting to play with his teammates one last time. Egebrecht noted an instant camaraderie among all the players, saying that “after the first practice, it was like everyone had been playing together for a long time. Things were a little hectic because of the overall situation, but we came together just wanting to play football.”

            
Additional information and photos of this year’s event can be viewed at www.allamericanbowl.com.