East–West Shrine Bowl

The East–West Shrine Bowl is a postseason college football all-star game that has been played annually since 1925; through January 2019, it was known as the East–West Shrine Game. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Shriners International, and the net proceeds are earmarked to some of the Shrine's charitable works, most notably the Shriners Hospitals for Children. The game's slogan is "Strong Legs Run That Weak Legs May Walk."
Teams consist of players from colleges across the country, and players may be college seniors or college underclassmen who have declared for the NFL Draft who are eligible to play for their schools. The game and the practice sessions leading up to it attract dozens of scouts from professional teams. Since 1985, some players of Canadian university football have also been invited, even though U Sports and the NCAA play by different football codes.
The game has been played in various locations. Most editions have been held in California, although the most recent edition played there was in 2005. The game has been played in Texas since the February 2024 edition. Since 1979, the game has been played in January or February, and has been played on January 10 or later since 1986. The later game dates allow players from teams whose schools were involved in bowl games to participate.

WWW shrinegame.com

History

20th century

For most of its history, the game was played in the San Francisco Bay Area, usually at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium or Stanford Stadium at Stanford University, with Pacific Bell Park/SBC Park as a host in its final years in Northern California. For more than half of the games played in the Bay Area, entertainment was provided by the marching band from Santa Cruz High School.
In January 1942, the game was played in New Orleans, due to the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This one-year relocation was based upon fears that playing the game on the West Coast could make the contest and the stadium a potential target for an additional attack. The game, originally planned for January 1 in San Francisco, was played on January 3 at Tulane Stadium, two days after the 1942 Sugar Bowl was held there.
During this era, the game was not restricted to college seniors—for example, the January 1944 edition of the game featured Robert Hoernschemeyer, Dean Sensanbaugher, and Herman Wedemeyer, each then college freshmen.
A similar all-star game, the North–South Shrine Game, was played in Miami from 1948 to 1973, and a final time in Pontiac, Michigan, in 1976.

Logo

Prior to the 50th edition of the game, contested in December 1974, a player from the Boston College Eagles, running back Mike Esposito, was photographed at Shriners Hospitals for Children in San Francisco holding the hand of a young patient while walking down a hallway—the photo was adapted as the Shrine Bowl logo. Esposito and the former patient, Nicole Urteaga, met again prior to the 100th edition of the game, played in January 2025.

21st century

In 2006, the game moved to Texas, leaving the San Francisco Bay area for the first time since 1942, and was played at the Alamodome in San Antonio. In 2007, the game relocated to Houston and was played at Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans, to be closer to one of the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children; Texas has two Shriner's hospitals, one in Houston and the other in Galveston. The 2008 and 2009 games were held at Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston.
In 2010, the game moved to Florida, and was held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Television coverage moved from ESPN/ESPN2 to the NFL Network, starting with the 2011 game. After two years in Orlando, the 2012 game was held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg; it was the sixth different venue in a span of eight contests.
Starting with the January 2017 game, the NFL supplies coaching staffs for the game, drawing from assistant coaches of teams who did not advance to the NFL postseason, and the game is now officiated by NFL officials. The game is played under NFL rules, with some restrictions, such as no motion or shifts by the offense, and no stunts or blitzes by the defense. Prior to the January 2020 playing, organizers renamed the game from East–West Shrine Game to East–West Shrine Bowl.
The 2021 edition of the game, which had been scheduled for January 23, was cancelled due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2021, it was announced that Allegiant Stadium would host the East–West Shrine Bowl on February 3, 2022; the game was scheduled as part of festivities for the 2022 Pro Bowl being held there the following Sunday.
The game moved to Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, for its January 2024 playing. The 100th edition of the game, held in January 2025, was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The January 2026 edition returned to Ford Center at The Star.

Game results

Through the January 2026 game, the West leads all-time with 55 wins to the East's 40 wins, while 5 games have tied.

No.	Date	Winner	Score	Location	Notes
1	December 26, 1925	West	6–0	San Francisco
2	January 1, 1927	West	7–3	San Francisco
3	December 26, 1927	West	16–6	San Francisco
4	December 29, 1928	East	20–0	San Francisco
5	January 1, 1930	East	19–7	San Francisco
6	December 27, 1930	West	3–0	San Francisco
7	January 1, 1932	East	6–0	San Francisco
8	January 2, 1933	West	21–13	San Francisco
9	January 1, 1934	West	12–0	San Francisco
10	January 1, 1935	West	19–13	San Francisco
11	January 1, 1936	East	19–3	San Francisco
12	January 1, 1937	East	3–0	San Francisco
13	January 1, 1938	Tie	0–0	San Francisco
14	January 2, 1939	West	14–0	San Francisco
15	January 1, 1940	West	28–11	San Francisco
16	January 1, 1941	West	20–14	San Francisco
17	January 3, 1942	Tie	6–6	New Orleans
18	January 1, 1943	East	13–12	San Francisco
19	January 1, 1944	Tie	13–13	San Francisco
20	January 1, 1945	West	13–7	San Francisco
21	January 1, 1946	Tie	7–7	San Francisco
22	January 1, 1947	West	13–9	San Francisco
23	January 1, 1948	East	40–9	San Francisco
24	January 1, 1949	East	14–12	San Francisco
25	December 31, 1949	East	28–6	San Francisco
26	December 30, 1950	West	16–7	San Francisco
27	December 29, 1951	East	15–14	San Francisco
28	December 27, 1952	East	21–20	San Francisco
29	January 2, 1954	West	31–7	San Francisco
30	January 1, 1955	East	13–12	San Francisco
31	December 31, 1955	East	29–6	San Francisco
32	December 29, 1956	West	7–6	San Francisco
33	December 28, 1957	West	27–13	San Francisco
34	December 27, 1958	East	26–14	San Francisco
35	January 2, 1960	West	21–14	San Francisco
36	December 31, 1960	East	7–0	San Francisco
37	December 30, 1961	West	21–8	San Francisco
38	December 29, 1962	East	25–19	San Francisco
39	December 28, 1963	Tie	6–6	San Francisco
40	January 2, 1965	West	11–7	San Francisco
41	December 31, 1965	West	22–7	San Francisco
42	December 31, 1966	East	45–22	San Francisco
43	December 30, 1967	East	16–14	San Francisco
44	December 28, 1968	West	18–7	San Francisco
45	December 27, 1969	West	15–0	Stanford, California
46	January 2, 1971	West	17–13	Oakland, California
47	December 31, 1971	West	17–13	San Francisco
48	December 30, 1972	East	9–3	San Francisco
49	December 29, 1973	East	35–7	San Francisco
50	December 28, 1974	East	16–14	Stanford, California

For the December 1925 game, NCAA records list a 7–0 final score, while contemporary newspaper accounts report 6–0.

MVP award

The game first named a Most Valuable Player for the January 1945 playing, and named a single MVP through the December 1952 game. Starting with the January 1954 game, two MVPs are selected for each game; they receive the William H. Coffman Award for Most Outstanding Offensive Player, and the E. Jack Spaulding Award for Most Outstanding Defensive Player. Coffman was managing director of the game for 40 years, while Spaulding was one of the organizers of the inaugural playing of the game. MVPs starting with the January 2000 game are listed below.

Year	Offensive winner	College	Position	Defensive winner	College	Position
2000	Marcus Knight	Michigan	WR	Erik Flowers	Arizona State	DE
2001	Steve Smith	Utah	WR	Leo Barnes	Southern Mississippi	DB
2002	Deonce Whitaker	San Jose State	RB	Everick Rawls	Texas	LB
2003	Donald Lee	Mississippi State	TE	Tully Banta-Cain	Cal	DE
2004	Ryan Dinwiddie	Boise State	QB	Brandon Chillar	UCLA	LB
2005	Stefan LeFors	Louisville	QB	Alex Green	Duke	S
2006	Reggie McNeal	Texas A&M	QB	James Wyche	Syracuse	DE
2007	Jeff Rowe	Nevada	QB	Dan Bazuin	Central Michigan	DE
2008	Josh Johnson	San Diego	QB	Spencer Larsen	Arizona	LB
2009	Marlon Lucky	Nebraska	RB	Michael Tauiliili	Duke	LB
2010	Mike Kafka	Northwestern	QB	O'Brien Schofield	Wisconsin	DE
2011	Delone Carter	Syracuse	RB	Martin Parker	Richmond	DT
2012	Lennon Creer	Louisiana Tech	RB	Nick Sukay	Penn State	CB
2013	Chad Bumphis	Mississippi State	WR	Nigel Malone	Kansas State	CB
2014	Jimmy Garoppolo	Eastern Illinois	QB	Ethan Westbrooks	West Texas A&M	DE
2015	Marvin Kloss	South Florida	K	Za'Darius Smith	Kentucky	DE
2016	Vernon Adams	Oregon	QB	Michael Caputo	Wisconsin	S
2017	Elijah McGuire	Louisiana–Lafayette	RB	Trey Hendrickson	Florida Atlantic	DE
2018	Daurice Fountain	Northern Iowa	WR	Natrell Jamerson	Wisconsin	S
2019	Terry Godwin	Georgia	WR	Justin Hollins	Oregon	LB
2020	Benny LeMay	Charlotte	RB	Luther Kirk	Illinois State	S
2022	E. J. Perry	Brown	QB	Diego Fagot	Navy	LB
2023	Jake Moody	Michigan	K	Trey Dean III	Florida	S
2024	Frank Gore Jr.	Southern Miss	RB	Jarius Monroe	Tulane	CB
2025	Jacory Croskey-Merritt	Arizona	RB	O'Donnell Fortune	South Carolina	CB
2026	Mark Gronowski	Iowa	QB	Mason Reiger	Wisconsin	LB

Canadian football invitees

Although the game is an American football competition, a limited number of players of Canadian university football, contested under Canadian football rules, have participated since 1985. The first Canadian football participant was offensive lineman Tom Spoletini of the Calgary Dinos, who played in the January 1985 game.
Usually, Canadian players on the West team come from Canada West schools, while Canadian players on the East team are from the other three Canadian conferences. One exception was Sean McEwen of the Calgary Dinos, who played on the East squad in the 2016 game. The only Canadian team that competed under American football rules is the now-defunct Simon Fraser Red Leafs; the only Simon Fraser player to be invited to the game was Ibrahim Khan, who played in 2004.
In 2024, the lone Canadian invitee was Qwan'tez Stiggers, an American who did not play college football but instead became a professional player for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Through the 2024 game, the Calgary Dinos had the most invitees, with 13. The 2025 and 2026 games have included Canada-born invitees from US-based college programs.

Year	West team	East team
1985	Tom Spoletini
1986	Kent Warnock	Mike Schad
1987	Leo Groenewegen	Louie Godry
1988	Craig Watson	Pierre Vercheval
1989	Brent Korte	Leroy Blugh
1990	Mark Singer	Chris Gioskos
1991	Mike Pavelec	Paul Vajda
1992	Jason Rauhaus	Chris Morris
1993	Chris Konrad	Mike O'Shea
1994	Travis Serke	Val St. Germain
1995	Rohn Meyer	Matthieu Quiviger
1996	Don Blair	Harry Van Hofwegen
1997	Ben Fairbrother	Mark Farraway
1998	Bob Beveridge	Dave Miller-Johnston
1999	Scott Flory	Cameron Legault
2000	Kevin Lefsrud	Kojo Millington
2001	Carlo Panaro	Randy Chevrier
2002	Jason Clermont	Kojo Aidoo
2003	Israel Idonije	Adam MacDonald
2004	Ibrahim Khan	Carl Gourgues
2005	Nick Johansson	Jesse Lumsden
2006	Daniel Federkeil	Andy Fantuz
2007	Jordan Rempel	Chris Best
2008	Dylan Barker Brendon LaBatte	Samuel Giguère Eric Maranda
2009	Simeon Rottier	Etienne Légaré
2010	Jordan Sisco	Matt Morencie
2011	Anthony Parker	Matt O'Donnell
2012	Ben Heenan Akiem Hicks	Arnaud Gascon-Nadon
2013	Kirby Fabien	Matt Sewell
2014	Evan Gill	Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
2015	Addison Richards	Daryl Waud
2016	David Onyemata	Sean McEwen, Charles Vaillancourt
2017	Geoff Gray	Antony Auclair
2018	Mark Korte	Regis Cibasu
2019	Joel Van Pelt	Mathieu Betts
2020	Carter O'Donnell Marc-Antoine Dequoy
2022	Deionte Knight
2023	Theo Benedet
2024	Qwan'tez Stiggers

For the 2025 game, quarterback Kurtis Rourke was invited; a native of Ontario and a player for the Indiana Hoosiers, he was unable to participate due to injury. For the 2026 game, offensive lineman Logan Taylor, a native of Nova Scotia and a player for the Boston College Eagles, was invited.

Hall of Fame

A hall of fame was established in 2002, with additional inductees typically named in the weeks leading up to each annual playing. Through the January 2026 edition, 67 players have been named to the hall of fame.

Year	Qty	Inductees
2002	6	Dick Butkus, Gerald Ford, Eddie LeBaron, Ollie Matson, Volney Peters, Dick Stanfel
2003	6	Hugh McElhenny, Craig Morton, Merlin Olsen, Alan Page, Leslie Richter, Gene Washington
2004	5	Chris Burford, Mike Garrett, Gino Marchetti, Tom Matte, Ed White
2005	1	Pat Tillman
2006	4	Raymond Berry, Joe Greene, Mike Haynes, Bob Lilly
2007	4	Joe DeLamielleure, Gale Sayers, Paul Warfield, Randy White
2008	6	Dave Butz, Carl Eller, Forrest Gregg, E.J. Holub, Lenny Moore, Larry Wilson
2009	4	Jerry Kramer, Charley Taylor, Brad Van Pelt, Doug Williams
2010	4	Larry Csonka, James Groh, Jim Walden, Kellen Winslow
2011	2	Buck Belue, Tom Flick
2012	2	Martín Gramática, Joey Harrington
2013	2	Buddy Curry, Steve Bartkowski
2014	2	Tony Berti, Steve Atwater
2015	2	Tommie Frazier, Jim Hanifan
2016	2	Rickey Jackson, Chris Chandler
2017	2	Robert Porcher, Mark Rypien
2018	3	Brett Favre, Willie Roaf, Gary Huff
2019	2	Troy Vincent, Barry Smith
2020	2	Will Shields, Dan Pastorini
2023	1	Nate Burleson
2024	2	Steve Sarkisian, Steve Smith Sr.
2025	2	Eddie George, Andrew Whitworth
2026	1	Daryl "Moose" Johnston

Inductees range from having played in game No. 10 to game No. 81, with game No. 48 having the most players honored, five.

Pat Tillman Award

Game organizers initiated a Pat Tillman Award in 2005, the year that Tillman was posthumously inducted to the game's hall of fame, to recognize "a player who best exemplifies character, intelligence, sportsmanship and service."

Year	Player	Pos.	College
2005	Morgan Scalley	S	Utah
2006	Charlie Peprah	S	Alabama
2007	Kyle Shotwell	LB	Cal Poly
2008	Justin Tryon	CB	Arizona State
2009	Collin Mooney	FB	Army
2010	Mike McLaughlin	LB	Boston College
2011	Josh McNary	LB	Army
2012	Tauren Poole	RB	Tennessee
2013	Keith Pough	LB	Howard
2014	Gabe Ikard	C	Oklahoma
2015	Jake Ryan	LB	Michigan
2016	Keenan Reynolds	QB	Navy
2017	Weston Steelhammer	S	Air Force
2018	J. T. Barrett	QB	Ohio State
2019	Cody Barton	LB	Utah
2020	James Morgan	QB	FIU
2022	Jack Coan	QB	Notre Dame
2023	Derek Parish	DE	Houston
2024	Trey Taylor	S	Air Force

All-Century Team

In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the East–West Shrine Bowl announced its All-Century Team. Listed in alphabetical order:
B — Herb Adderley, Michigan State

OT/G — Larry Allen, Sonoma State

DL — Jared Allen, Idaho State

DB — Steve Atwater, Arkansas

E — Raymond Berry, SMU

QB — Tom Brady, Michigan

LB — Robert Brazile, Jackson State

OLB — Willie Brown, Temple

DE — Tedy Bruschi, Arizona

DL — Nick Buoniconti, Notre Dame

C — Dick Butkus, Illinois

DB — Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech

Q — Earl "Dutch" Clark, Colorado College

T — George Connor, Notre Dame

B — Larry Csonka, Syracuse

DT — Curley Culp, Arizona State

QB — Randall Cunningham, UNLV

LB — Fred Dean, Louisiana Tech

OT — Joe DeLamielleure, Michigan State

T — Dan Dierdorf, Michigan

E — Mike Ditka, Pittsburgh

DL — Chris Doleman, Pittsburgh

B — Bill Dudley, Virginia

Q — Tony Dungy, Minnesota

T — Albert Glen "Turk" Edwards, Washington State

T — Carl Eller, Minnesota

Q — John Elway, Stanford

OB — Brett Favre, Southern Mississippi

E — Tom Fears, UCLA

B — Jim Finks, Tulsa

G — Dan Fortmann, Colgate

RB — Eddie George, Ohio State

B — Frank Gifford, UCLA

DT — La’Roi Glover, San Diego State

DT — Joe Greene, North Texas

T — Forrest Gregg, SMU

OL — Russ Grimm, Pittsburgh

B — John Hadl, Kansas

LB — Jack Ham, Penn State

DB — Mike Haynes, Arizona State

E — Bill Hewitt, Michigan

B — Clarke Hinkle, Bucknell

B — Paul Hornung, Notre Dame

LB — Rickey Jackson, Pittsburgh

H — Jimmy Johnson, Santa Clara

G — Jerry Kramer, Idaho

B — Paul Krause, Iowa

T — Bob Lilly, TCU

G — Tom Mack, Michigan

E — John Mackey, Syracuse

OL — Logan Mankins, Fresno State

G — Gino Marchetti, USF

B — Ollie Matson, USF

B — George McAfee, Duke

T — Mike McCormack, Kansas

OL — Randall McDaniel, Arizona State

B — Hugh McElhenny, Washington

WR — Art Monk, Syracuse

B — Lenny Moore, Penn State

T — Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota

FB — Lorenzo Neal, Fresno State

T — Merlin Olsen, Utah State

DE — Alan Page, Notre Dame

H — Ace Parker, Duke

G — Jim Parker, Ohio State

RB — Walter Payton, Jackson State

E — Pete Pihos, Indiana

G — Les Richter, UC Berkeley

WR — Andre Rison, Michigan State

OT — Willie Roaf, Louisiana Tech

OC — Jeff Saturday, North Carolina

B — Gale Sayers, Kansas

WR — Sterling Sharpe, South Carolina

WR — Shannon Sharpe, Savannah State

OG — Will Shields, Nebraska

WR — Steve Smith, Utah

G — Dick Stanfel, San Francisco

B — Roger Staubach, Navy

TE — Ernie Stautner, Boston College

C — Dwight Stephenson, Alabama

T — Joe Stydahar, West Virginia

B — Charley Taylor, Arizona State

LB — Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina

MLB — Zach Thomas, Texas Tech

OLB — Pat Tillman, Arizona State

C — Clyde "Bulldog" Turner, Hardin–Simmons

CB/DB — Troy Vincent, Wisconsin

DE — Mike Vrabel, Ohio State

B — Doak Walker, SMU

B — Paul Warfield, Ohio State

— Bob Waterfield, UCLA

C — Mike Webster, Wisconsin

T — Arnie Weinmeister, Washington

WR — Wes Welker, Texas Tech

DT — Randy White, Maryland

OL — Andrew Whitworth, LSU

Q — Doug Williams, Grambling State

B — Larry Wilson, Utah

TE — Kellen Winslow, Missouri

C — Alex Wojciechowicz, Fordham