AS NEWS: The 2009 East-West Shrine Game

The 84th annual East-West Shrine Game (www.shrinegame.com) will be played at John O'Quinn Field, also known as Robertson Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston on Saturday, January 17th, starting at 3pm. ESPN2 will televise the game this year with players, coaches and NFL personnel arriving in-town throughout the day on Saturday, January 10th.

In an exclusive release, Shrine Game officials have announced that the head coaches for this year's game will be former NFL and college head coach Bobby Ross (East) and former Alabama and Texas A&M and NFL head coach Gene Stallings (West).

"It is once again our distinct pleasure to have the 84th edition of the East-West Shrine Game played at the University of Houston," said Jack Hart, the Shrine Game's Executive Director, "Robertson Stadium proved to be a terrific place to host America's Finest Hour and this classic game."

Last year's game drew a record crowd of NFL scouts and evaluators as San Diego quarterback Josh Johnson (Baltimore) and Arizona linebacker Spencer Larsen (Denver) were named the Offensive and Defensive MVP's, respectively.

Tickets for this year's game went on sale earlier week, October 27th, so please visit the game's website at that time for more information.

The 83rd annual event featured 44 who were then chosen in the NFL Draft. Initial rosters for this year's game will follow shortly, and according to game sources the NFL will once again help provide current assistant coaches to support the game's two head coaches as they have done the past three seasons.

Stay tuned over the coming weeks as www.nfldraftbible.com provides "Exclusive" access to the games rosters, coach staff and then practice and game reports "Live" from Houston, TX.

Photo Credit: University of Arizona