FOOTBALL NEWS JERSEYS The 2013 Senior Bowl

 The 2013 Senior Bowl, held annually in Mobile, Ala., is set for kickoff at 4 p.m. ET at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, and will be televised by NFL Network. While a player’s performance in this game

undoubtedly can help (or hurt) his NFL draft stock, much of a player’s fate in the professional ranks is secured by the practices leading up to the game.  Among the big-name players on rosters for this game are quarterbacks Landry Jones of Oklahoma, Florida State’s EJ Manuel and Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson. Oregon’s Kenjon Barner, UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin, Florida’s Mike Gillislee and Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor are among the running backs, while Baylor’s Terrance Williams and Michigan’s Denard Robinson (a former QB) are worth keeping tabs on at wide receiver.

 A first for this game this year is seeing two fourth-year juniors—OL D.J. Fluker of Alabama and OL Justin Pugh of Syracuse—getting a chance to participate after getting clearance from the NFL. Fourth-year juniors had been previously excluded from the game, even if they had graduated.

 Having fourth-year juniors play in last year’s game would have meant Baylor's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III and Alabama All-America linebacker Dont'a Hightower would have been eligible. Both were first-round draft picks.

 "This is a breakthrough moment for the Senior Bowl game because the league allowed us to bring in these two players who graduated in December and were on campus for four years and their coach supported their candidacy for the Senior Bowl," Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage said. "The reason we wanted to do this was because in the past there have been a number of fourth-year juniors who had graduated who were not allowed to play in the Senior Bowl."

football jerseys custom

With the playoffs underway, many fans are sitting on the outside looking in as their teams are officially in the offseason, and with the offseason comes the excitement and anticipation of the NFL Draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a position heading into this year's draft that they usually aren't. Rather than being able to draft for the future, the Steelers find themselves needing help at multiple positions now. There are holes on every level of the defense and some potential areas on offense that could need addressing.

However, the most important need to address in terms of where the Steelers will be drafting initially is the safety position. Anyone who watched Pittsburgh play this year will be able to tell you about the constant change in the two starting safeties from week-to-week.

Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, the two starting safeties on the depth chart, were only together for a handful of games this season, with backups Ryan Mundy and Will Allen filling in at various times. The position is getting older and injuries are catching up with the stars. Because of that, this year should be the year that new talent is brought in to bolster the position.